Six Weeks of Summer
by Stessa
Summary: Spotted: Lonely boy and his best friend hanging out during summer. He might need time to mourn, but what does Vanessa have planned? You think she still has feelings for him or is this simply a friendly gesture? You know you love me, xoxo Gossip Girl.
1. Week One

**Six Weeks of Summer **

**Week One: **

**We're Not Lame, We're Awesome**

"And here we have a typical example of the human male; Dan Humphrey. Even if he has summer vacation, we all know he's going to sleep in late to mourn in peace. This is actually real, heartfelt footage, another example of how the human heart works, when broken into pieces. I think it's safe to say, that Humphrey will mourn all summer, though I have made it my only mission to stand by his side and cheer him up…"

Dan smiled into his pillow when he could hear her getting closer. She had gone through the window and already then he had heard her. There was no doubt in his mind that she was recording him right now. He knew he had to get her to stop, he just wasn't quite sure what to do yet. Should he turn around and throw a pillow at her, or should he fall from his bed to the floor and out of the shot? He weighted the options in his mind, while Vanessa just kept on going.

"I don't know what is going to happen within the next six weeks of our summer, but I know that it has already started, and I am taking heartbroken boy out for a good, nice breakfast, you never know, he might need the strength for the day ahead, and-WHOA!" Vanessa managed to duck along with her video camera before the flying pillow hit her straight in the face. She stood back up and looked at a grinning Dan, "You did not just throw a pillow at me, Humphrey!" she warned him.

Dan rubbed his sleepy eyes. He sat up in bed and stared at his best friend. How could that girl be so awake in the morning? She was all up and about; dressed for the day, hair and make-up done. He glanced quickly at his clock, while still grinning goofily to her. Her video camera was back up and pointed at him, so he leaned forward and said, "Heartbroken boy is off the camera." He just said, and moved the video camera out of the way, he then added to her, "It's too early to be up at eight thirty."

"So you were awake!" Vanessa simply replied, referring to him, calling himself 'heartbroken boy'; that meant he had heard her. She sat down on the foot of his bed and turned off the camera. She then smiled warmly at him, "So what do you say?" she questioned.

"What do I say?" Dan questioned right back. He had no idea what she referred to this time. She could be a little quick at times, and when he just woke up, he had troubles following her train of thought.

She let her video camera rest in her lap and almost rolled her eyes at him, "I thought you were awake? About breakfast, of course!" she gave him a saying look, and he just gave her one right back, "Hello, do you really think I'm going to let you lie around here all summer? We only have each other, Humphrey."

He groaned and let himself fall back onto his bed again. He could have told himself that she wouldn't just let him be. His father was away and Jenny would be working all summer, so they really only did have each other. Yesterday he had been all ready to embrace everything with his best friend, but today it seemed a lot harder to actually do it. He sat up again and stared at her, "Could we maybe only have each other in an hour or so?" he wanted to know.

Vanessa shook her head and a loose curl bounced slightly, "No way." She said, and got out of his bed again. She placed her video camera on his shelf and crossed her arms firmly across her chest as she studied him carefully, "Listen Dan…I know you're all sad about Serena but I thought we agreed not to talk about it. At least not yet." She paused and seemed to finally come to a solution about what to do, and before Dan knew it, she had pulled his covers away from him. He reached out and tried to grab them but she was too quick, and threw them on the floor, which caused him to sit on his bed in only his underwear.

"That's not even funny, Abrams." He said, determined to be angry with her. She just grinned to him like some idiot though, so he couldn't help it. He chuckled too. She had such a great laugh and he knew she only wanted what was best for him. What friend would he be really, if he let her be alone all summer? She practically didn't have anyone else than him, like he didn't have anyone else than her either.

She wriggled her eyebrows at him, "So what do ya' say? Wanna join your bestie for breakfast, I'm starving, you know?" she just told him.

He sighed and eventually swung his legs onto the floor. He could see her smile from where he sat, so he turned around to look at her again, "Yes, yes… I'll go." he said, but when she was about to do a happy-dance, he stopped her, because he couldn't let her win completely, "But what do you say we take the door this time? Good idea…? Bad idea…?"

She laughed again and grabbed the shirt he had thrown on the floor last night. "Whatever it takes to get you out of here." She said, before she threw the shirt at him.

--

Thirty minutes later she tried to get a suggestion, of what they could do for the day, out of him. They were eating breakfast and drinking coffee at some little place Vanessa had picked out, and Dan was already much happier. He was glad that he had decided to go out with her. But he should have known she would cheer him up. When had she ever not been able to? She knew him like no other person really did. And she knew when it was alright for her to tease him or push him and she also knew when she should let him be.

"Come ooon…" she said and sipped her coffee, "I can't do everything here, alright? What do you wanna do today? I promise I'm going to be absolutely at my best behavior all through summer if you just shoot off at least one idea right now."

Dan made a face, "Your best behavior?" he questioned, and she gave a slight nod, "All through summer?" she nodded again, "Don't you think it's stupid to promise something you obviously… for _many_ reasons… can't keep?" he wanted to know.

"Hey," she said and placed her mug onto the table again. She looked greatly offended, but Dan knew it was only pretend, "I can so behave. I was nice towards Serena, wasn't I? And really Dan…" she continued, so he wouldn't dwell on Serena for too long, since this was all about him forgetting her, "Do I have to do everything here?"

He leaned back in his chair and studied her for a few seconds. She really was trying. He had to try too. It was up to him and her to get the best summer ever. She wasn't there last year and he had honestly missed her. They were best friends and she had just left. It was nice to have her back now when he really needed her. He had tried to balance her out with Serena all through the year but it hadn't been the easiest thing. They had never really grown to like each other like he had wished, but now… there was only Vanessa and maybe she did deserve his full attention for some time.

He shrugged, "I don't know." He said. He really had no idea what they could do together. There was endless of possibilities and the two of them were never bored. They could just walk around town for hours with nothing but each other. He'd come home after such day and think it was the best one of his life and that he'd never had more fun, "Why don't we just… go for a walk, see what happens?"

Vanessa seemed to think about it while she made her usual Vanessa-thinking-face. He just waited patiently for her to answer and eventually she did nod her head, "We ought to find the most beautiful artistic place in the city and I'm gonna film you in front of it while I ask you questions." She said, while she lifted her video camera up again, so she could see him in it.

He placed a hand in front of it again; sometimes that girl was just too much. Why did she constantly have to film him? And what would she ask him about? He was confused so he groaned, "Vanessa… why exactly do you have to tape me all the time? When I sleep? When I eat? I'm sure you could pick a more glorious moment."

She let the camera fall slightly again, so at least it didn't point directly at him, "I am catching the moments of Daniel Humphrey's life." She informed him, like that wasn't weird at all. He shot her a confused look and she thankfully elaborated, "Look, I'm making a documentary about our summer. Who knows when we'll spend time together again. I just want some memories of you."

He reached a hand out and took her hand; the one that wasn't holding her camera, "You don't need memories, Abrams." He confidently said; he would never want to not be friends with her. He couldn't stand it if she moved away again, "I won't leave you alone, and if you don't leave me alone, then I'm pretty sure we will be together." He shot her a cheesy grin, "You're stuck with me."

"Unless of course I do decide to leave you." She said, and placed her camera on the table again. She adjusted it slightly and hit the play button which of course he pretended he didn't see, "Or y'know… if we're alone together."

"How's that even a possibility?" Dan asked her, his voice disbelievingly teasing her just because he knew he could.

She showed him her teeth in an over-exaggerated smile, "I haven't figured out yet." She just said, before she drank the last of her coffee in one huge sip. Dan knew it was probably getting cold, so he finished his too in a hurry.

He placed the mug on the table and reached for her video camera, "So do we go for that walk or what?" he asked and snatched the device away from her before she managed to take it. He stood up and turned the camera over so she was filmed, "I will carry this and ask all the questions of course."

Vanessa stood up and got on her jean jacket, while he adjusted the camera better. She then stepped right in front of him and he got this weird close-up of her face, "You're not gonna break it are you?" she asked him, before she turned around and went for the door so they could get outside.

"No, of course not." He said as he followed her. She held the door open for him and right when they were outside both of them, he decided to tease her, "Oh no!" he said, and made a worried face, "What did I just do!? Vanessa… I think I broke it!"

She pretended that she hadn't even heard him and went down the street. Dan groaned at his own lame attempt for a joke which she didn't even buy and followed in her steps. He couldn't help but admire how good she looked on camera. She had a certain glow around her.

--

Later that week Vanessa filmed them in front of the lake in Central Park. She hadn't let that video camera stay at home for one second and Dan found that really amusing. She really meant what she said about capturing their summer on film. It felt somewhat good to know that he had her to look forward to all these six weeks and he hadn't really thought much of Serena. She had managed to really cheer him up so far and that was why he let her ask him questions like she had so badly wanted to.

"So Dan…" she begun in the usual voice she always used whenever she filmed something, "How old are you again?"

He gave her an odd look, "You already know how old I am." He said. He wasn't really into this question-thing, but he would try for her sake. She seemed to take it very seriously even if she kept on grinning and made silly faces whenever he held the camera and filmed her.

She stuck her tongue out at him, "Yeah… but why don't you tell me again? It's for the film!"

"Fine." He said and offered her the best smile he had as he looked directly to the camera again, "I am seventeen." He told her, and couldn't help but grin wider when she smiled at him. Well, if that was all it took to make her happy, then there was no problem at all. He was just concerned about spending all summer as one of her subjects.

"Great." She softly said and took a step closer to him and then one to the side, to catch him from a different side, "So what do you think of your summer so far? Hopefully I'm not a complete bore to you."

Dan chuckled, "I hope you know that you could never be a bore to me, Vanessa." He decided to tell her, instead of going into details about their summer. He knew he would have to eventually, but at least she could work for it a little bit.

She giggled, "You're smooth, very smooth Humphrey, but I'm gonna have to ask you to answer the question." She said with a giggly smile; the smile he loved so much. It was so infuriating, and he couldn't help but smile too.

"But of course." He said in his best theatre voice, before he got serious and decided to just answer the question. She obviously wanted him to, so why wouldn't he?, "I actually think that our summer so far has been great." He said and completely meant it. He really liked the sound of 'our summer', but couldn't explain why, "We ah – we've walked around the city and yesterday we ate some _very _delicious ice cream."

She lovingly rolled her eyes at him and he winked at her, "That's wonderful, Dan, really. So what we've got so far to show from our summer is ice cream and walks around the city. Well that's just perfect." She paused, "It's official, we're very lame. I bet Blair and those people are off somewhere on their private jets."

Dan reached a hand up and crooked his pointer-finger to get her to come closer, which she did; as far as she could without climbing the rock he was sitting at, "You wanna know a secret?" he told her.

She looked confused but nodded her head nonetheless. She wore her hair to the side today which he rather liked because he could see her face. She had the typical huge Vanessa-earrings in her ears and they glinted in the sunlight, "Sure…" she said. She had doubts in her eyes and he could easily tell that she was intrigued while she didn't want to be, "What is it?"

"We're not lame, we're awesome." He chuckled, and before he knew what had happened, she had reached a hand out and hit him on the shin.

"Stupid!" she said, but he could tell she was holding back a laugh.

He steadied himself on the rock she had demanded he sat on, and looked down at her with huge eyes, "Besides," he mumbled, "I didn't think you cared about them anyway."

She shrugged and quickly said, "I don't."

He gave her another look that clearly told her that he did not believe her one bit. She would have never said that about Blair if she didn't care the slightest. And he admitted; it did bother him that he couldn't just fly off to Europe if he wanted to, but that was his life. She had told him to make the best of it with her, so that was what he was determined to do. And he was becoming more and more sure that it would turn out just perfect.

"Alright…" she sighed and hit what he believed was the zoom-button, "I've might've… liked – just a _little bit_ – to drive around in a limo."

Dan then laughed at her. He couldn't believe it; she was just too much. She was the one who had always hated the Upper-East-Siders. He had done too with exception of Serena. And maybe Vanessa had found out that they were humans with feelings and personalities behind that façade. Well… he was pretty sure she had found out that Nate was. He wasn't too sure about what she still thought of Blair and Chuck. She still seemed to dislike them very much. But that she would utter that she liked a limo – that was golden material. He couldn't believe she had just caught that on tape.

Vanessa didn't really know what to do so she just made a face at him, "Well that's good, just make fun of the only person you can spend summer with. Are you sure I'm not going to leave you alone anyway?"

Dan knew she wouldn't so he wasn't particularly scared. He just pointed at the camera and said, "Did you seriously just catch yourself saying that you liked to drive around in a limo? Did you just record that?" he asked her; wow, he couldn't believe his luck. He could hold this against her forever if he had proof.

She rolled her eyes at him, "What do you take me for, Humphrey? I just paused it." She said, like it was no big deal and hit the button she had pressed before, the button Dan had so stupidly believed was the zoom-button, "Seriously. I would never admit such thing."

Dan's grin got immediately wiped off his face. Of course she would have never admitted that onto tape. How stupid had he thought she was? She was smart. She had probably done better on her SATs than he had. "You're so clever, Abrams…" he said, wrinkled his nose at her.

"That I am." She replied with another huge, classic Vanessa-smile.

Dan moved a bit on the rock since it was kind of hard to sit on and his butt hurt and would probably fall asleep soon, if he didn't seat himself somewhere else, "Why did you even like Nate?" he asked her. He had been very curious about this. He hadn't really asked her and their 'romance' had been very short. It sort of suddenly just ended.

She gave him a look, "Why did you like Serena?"

Dan raised his eyebrows, "Touché, best friend." He mumbled, but didn't want to answer her. He had a million reasons but he was still not ready to talk about it yet. It was still too soon. He was sure she could get the entire story before summer was over. It was all about the healing process and so far she just hadn't pulled him far enough into it to really talk, "But I don't think we really wanna dwell on that."

Vanessa got his hint and shook her head rapidly, "Nooo, back to our summer." She swallowed loudly before she went back to her questions, "So, about how we're lame."

"We're not lame!" Dan objected. He stared right into her eyes and gave her that look. Sometimes he felt like he sent messages to her telepathically because she understood the weirdest looks and gestures; it was kind of scary how they were so good together, "I really enjoyed those ice creams."

She got lost in thought for a few seconds and that caused her to get huge thinking-lines on her forehead which he just found adorable too. But then she relaxed her face again, and let the video camera fall, "Then let's go get some." She suggested and made a big deal about showing him how she pressed the red off-button so the camera made a little melody before the screen went black, "Want to?" she asked again.

Dan quickly got off of the rock. He could feel his butt thanking him for finally standing up. He joined Vanessa by the bottom of it and gave her a sideways hug before he let his arm fall, "I'd love that, because that means no more questions."

"Aw you did a darn fine job, Dan." Vanessa told him as she reached down and dusted off his butt since it was dirty from the rock. She looked at him, "Dirt." Was the only word she said, before she started walking, and he gave his pants a quick look to make sure that now they really were dirt-free, before he hurried to follow her.

"Can we continue our lame summer in a slower phase?" he asked her, when he finally walked by her side. That small girl could surely walk quick.

Vanessa linked her free arm with his and offered him a sincere smile, "We can do anything as long as we're lame together." She replied as they headed towards the place they got ice creams the other day.

Dan chuckled happily; they really could be lame together.

--

The next day he went to see her at work. She still had to earn some money somehow so work had to get done. He didn't have a job and he was very grateful that his father just paid the bills. Vanessa really had to work to live. It was kind of scary, but she handled it in a way that only Vanessa Abrams could.

When he walked into the shop it was still during the late morning rush, so he just fought his way into the back of the small place and waited. All these people had to have coffees to go so within a few minutes there would be empty again and Vanessa would see him. He could see her laptop on the back counter and her video camera was in it's bag right next to it. Either she figured he would come or she had planned to go to his place right after work was over. When nothing happened, she usually worked on her laptop too, even if she was at work.

He watched her as she served every customer. She hadn't seen him yet, but he liked watching her. There was something so calming about his best friend. He honestly couldn't have chosen a better girl to have a lifelong friendship with. She was so amazing and he knew she would do anything to keep him happy. She had even tried to make friends with Serena and embrace the world of riches just for his sake. Even if she was hurt that he just sort of 'threw' her off to the side and bumped her from number one to number two on his list, she tried her best. And now when it was over with Serena, she was just there for him again, even if he hadn't treated her the best. He'd tried though, that evening when she first found out about them he had run after her, because he couldn't stand to see her upset. And she clearly had been.

She handed a customer a coffee and as she lifted her head to skim the room, she saw him. Her smile got huge and he gave her a small wave. She turned her look away from him and finished with one customer before she got her co-worker to take over. She grabbed a pen and a notepad and went around the counter to his table in the back. She clicked the pen to be ready to write, "Hi." She said.

"Busy day?" he questioned and looked around the shop again. People were slowly leaving and he suspected it would be like this again right after lunch. He felt bad for her because obviously the half hour it lasted she would have to work fast.

She shrugged her shoulders and quickly tapped her pen against the pad, "Like usual." She replied, and then glanced at her co-worker who was pretty busy, "Listen, do you want anything, otherwise I have to go help Britt."

"Just give me a coffee when you have time." Dan replied. She smiled warmly to him and turned back around to the counter. He leaned himself against the table and watched her as she finished working. She would probably have a break soon and then they could talk about what to do once she got off. He wasn't sure when she would get off either, but he hoped it wouldn't be too long.

About ten minutes later the rush was over and Vanessa sat down in front of him with two coffees. She sighed in relief and he immediately took a long sip of his. "So what are we doing once I get outta here?" she asked him, and sipped her coffee too.

Dan shrugged and smiled happily at her, "I'm sure we'll figure that out once you're ready, Abrams."

She nodded and squeezed her eyes together in agreement, "You know what? I think you're just right about that, Humphrey." She said and lifted the plastic cup to her mouth again, while he just chuckled goofily.

He was pretty sure that the rest of the summer would turn out just fine.

* * *

_So, yeah. That was pretty much just first chapter. This fic is TV-based for I have never read the books (I don't think we get them in Denmark), and it's right after the season one finale. It's basically just about Dan and Vanessa and their summer together and her feelings for him. Serena will make an appearance so will Rufus and Nate most likely. It's going to be six chapters. I hope you liked this first part. Please give me your thoughts, I'd like to know?_

_**Disclaimer; **I don't own Gossip Girl. _


	2. Week Two

**Six Weeks of Summer **

**Week Two:**

**Is That a Challenge, Weirdo?**

"So here comes the amazing Dan Humphrey…" Vanessa begun, as she zoomed in on Dan when he came running towards her. He looked kind of funny; his face was scrunched up in this weird expression and Vanessa had to bite back a chuckle, "On this first day of the second week, he has decided to go for a very early morning run. I, being the good friend that I am," Vanessa just had to add that, "decided to tag along."

Dan paused next to her and gave her a weird look through the camera, "I'm not sure how much running you're doing though, Abrams." He softly swatted the camera away and brushed his forehead off with the back of his palm, "Must you film me even when I'm all sweaty and gross?" he wondered out loud.

Vanessa offered him a grin. She didn't want to say this aloud, but she found him extremely cute when he was all sweaty. She just wasn't exactly sure if he wanted to hear so, so she shrugged her shoulders lamely, "It's a part of the project." She just replied, and put the camera back so it was on level with him. He'd been running around like a maniac all morning and she didn't understand that. She wasn't really one to do such things. She had decided to put on some old jogging pants she found in the back of her clothes, but in her mind she looked completely ridiculous.

"Are you really still on that?" Dan then wanted to know.

Vanessa nodded; she planned on continuing this through summer. All those six weeks. She wanted to catch Dan's (hopefully) transformation on film; she wanted to edit it together so they'd always have a memory of each other if they ever were apart. And she would be able to look back and see how Dan got over Serena with _her_ help. It was a wonderful feeling to have. "Yes, I am really still on that." she just said.

Dan looked thoughtful for a few seconds and Vanessa wondered what was going through his mind. He was a very thoughtful person no matter what he was up to, and mostly she always knew what he thought because she'd known him forever. But this time she couldn't exactly tell what it was with him. He then reached out and took the video camera from her; she didn't really resist, because she was curious to know what he would do, "Then how about you run for awhile and I film you?" he suggested.

Vanessa shook her head and couldn't help but laugh lowly, "No way!" she said and slowly started walking down the path, she wasn't surprised to learn that Dan followed her with the camera in position, "I am the filmer…" she begun and turned around, so she was walking backwards while talking to him, "and you're… the _subject_." She finished with a saying look, "Now, I'm no professor or anything, but I think that means that I hold the camera while you look pretty."

Dan shook his head and grinned at her, "See, that's where you're wrong." He told her and tried to sound wise, "I am, as we both know, the smart one here, so I say that I tape you for a little while."

Vanessa gave him a questionable look. Did he honestly think that he could just take her video camera and then just use it against her? It didn't work that way. She had a plan and it would go wrong if he decided to interfere, "Oh, so you're the smart one here?" she said and therefore decided to comment on that part instead of the 'taping'-part.

Dan shot her an 'are you kidding me'-look, "Of course." He said.

Vanessa smiled warmly at him because he was so unbelievably cute, she just couldn't help but love him, "Well…" she trailed off and took in a deep breath, "It is my video camera." She begun, stating the obvious by pointing into the camera, "It is my project… and I can't run." She motioned for the path and knew that if she had to run she wouldn't make it very far. She wasn't in the best of shapes because she didn't really exercise that much. She then looked Dan deeply in the eye with a cheesy smile, "And while I'm not too sure about you and the whole looking pretty-part, and how well those two mesh together, I know I decide this."

Dan scrunched his eyebrows together in wonderment, "I can too look pretty." He mocked her and zoomed completely in on her face, "I mean…" he paused as he studied her gently, "I know I'm not exactly gorgeous like a certain Miss Abrams, but I'm not that ugly, am I?"

Vanessa couldn't help the blush that rose to her cheeks by that comment. It was nice to hear such things from him once in awhile. He was so sweet and almost shy when he said them. He'd always complimented her, but ever since she moved and then came back again, it had meant more to her. She really wanted him to mean those things in more than a friendly manner. And while she had had sort of a thing with Nate, it had never washed away those feelings she held for Dan because they were so strong. He probably thought she didn't like him like that, and that was also how she wanted things, "Fine…" she said, because she just couldn't say no to him when he told her things like that, "I'll let you film, but _don't_ think I don't know how you just tried to soften me up with those compliments."

Dan smiled hugely at her and zoomed out again, "I want you to run a little so it looks like we run together." He looked down the path, "When you edit it it'll look good and we'll look really healthy."

Vanessa rolled her eyes at him; he was simply the weirdest person she could hang out with, and yet she still wanted to be with him 24/7. "You're so full of good ideas, Humphrey." She said, and then swept her hair back gently, "I'll just run and you follow me."

Dan nodded happily and Vanessa took in a deep breath before she started jogging slowly down the path. She didn't want to jog too fast or anything, because then the camera would bounce way too much while Dan filmed. It was better if he could follow her while walking. Vanessa tried her best to keep her breath calm so she could at least run for just a few minutes before she lost her breath completely. But she was already getting breathless and she knew she would never hear the end of it from Dan. She therefore stopped and leaned herself against a tree.

Dan laughed, "What, are you not up for it, Abrams?"

Vanessa ignored him for a second and tried to get a hold of her breathing. She placed a hand on her side and looked up, "I am so out of shape." She whined and locked eyes with him.

Dan seemed to find it very amusing so he lowered the video camera, "How many push-ups can you do?" he questioned.

**--ooo--**

"So right now, live from the Humphrey apartment, is Vanessa Abrams and Dan Humphrey – that's me –" Dan smiled to Vanessa above the camera, she was seated on his bed, where it was resting, and he kneeled in front of it to speak in to it; she found this completely ridiculous but she wouldn't give up, "and we're about to have a little contest going." He paused again, "It's the push-ups."

Vanessa groaned. This would so not go well. She wasn't athletic at all and Dan was really strong. He would be able to make a hundred in no time and she'd just lie there on her stomach on the floor and try to work on the 'up'-part. "This is stupid, Dan, can't we just get some ice cream?" she asked him and leaned forward a bit.

Dan shook his head, "No." he firmly said, "Are you afraid you're gonna lose or something, Abrams?"

Vanessa gave him a look, "I never lose." She said, and got off of the bed. Sure, this was one contest she would, without a doubt, lose, but she wasn't about to admit so without a fight. Dan would hold this against her for many painful years to come, but at least she could try.

"Look," Dan said, and Vanessa could tell he was trying to hold back a laugh, "I'll be nice to you. You can do them on your knees."

She stuck her tongue out at him and gave him the eyes, "How very kind of you." she sarcastically replied, even if that made it slightly better. She had a better chance of doing it if she was on her knees rather than on her toes. At least she wouldn't have to carry too much of her own weight. She kneeled onto the floor and looked up at him, "Are you getting ready to do it with me, or is this your task of completely humiliation of your best friend?" she jokingly wanted to know.

Dan gave her a slight push and sat down, rested his back against the bed and smiled warmly at her, "We'll do it one at a time." he said, as a matter of fact, "So I suggest you start, because then I won't do like a hundred too much, since I'll just have to over-do whatever you did."

Vanessa gave him a sour look; she had to admit though, that that was really clever. "Ooh, you're so smart." She mocked him, because even if it was a good idea, she would never admit it to him. She then cleared her throat, not knowing what to say to drag this out, to let him forget about it. She just knew she would have to try so she wouldn't end up looking like a complete idiot in front of him; it wasn't like she hadn't done that before, and he knew everything about her, but yet she feared it, "When will Jenny be home!?" she excitingly asked him, hoping that would do the trick.

Dan shrugged and looked at his clock, "Soon." He just replied, before he stared back at her, "So, will you get to it, Abrams?"

Vanessa sighed heavily; she would never get out of this. She swallowed loudly and locked eyes with him for a second, gave him her meanest glare, before she lowered her hands to the floor, and before she could even think of doing anything, her face was flat against his floor. She groaned and she could hear Dan laugh. She was determined to at least do five, so she did her best to push with all her strength, but she didn't get anywhere; she just made a really weird sound. Dan started laughing even more and she gave up, rolled onto her side and breathed out, "Stop laughing!" she chocked out.

Dan moved over so he was closer to her and leaned down, so they were face to face, "You didn't even do one!" he mocked her.

Vanessa sat up too and raised an eyebrow, "Let me see what you can do before you tease me, Humphrey." She challenged him. She knew he only had to do one and he would have won, so it was pretty stupid to continue this. But that was them after all, they did these sort of things all the time. And Dan would, of course, be able to do one push-up in a second.

Dan laughed at her and got onto the floor. Vanessa grabbed the video camera to hold it herself and placed it against her shoulder to keep it steady. Dan then winked quickly at her, before he made a sound and pretended he couldn't lift himself much like she had just done. Except – his sound was really over-exaggerated. Vanessa reached her free hand out and hit him on the back of his head, "You're stupid." She told him, with no real emotion in her voice; she did her best not to laugh at him.

"Alright, alright…" Dan mumbled, before he readjusted himself and Vanessa had to admit he won the competition; with no hard work at all he did first one push-up, and then one more and more. He then let himself rest on the floor and looked at her trough the camera again, "Is that good enough?"

Vanessa chewed on nothing a couple of times and stood up, still filming him as he lay there, "I wonder how much you can lift like that?" she wondered and looked around his room to see if there was anything she could put on his back to make it heavier for him.

Dan chuckled lamely, "Look, wasn't this proof enough that I'm stronger than you?" he asked her, but Vanessa didn't really listen to him, she was busy trying to find something in this room that would do the trick; he didn't really have anything, it looked like. And when he continued to mock her, she just ignored him, "Or do you actually think it's harder to do them on your knees, because I can do that too if you want?"

As Vanessa came to the conclusion that Dan had nothing that would work, she glanced briefly into Jenny's room, but it didn't exactly look like she had anything either. She then got an evil idea and moved over on the floor to stop next to Dan. "Lie down and rest." She told him and Dan, even if he looked confused, did as she said, and before he could even ask her further about things, she had taken a seat on his back, video camera still in hand.

"What-" Dan paused and almost broke his neck when he turned to look at her, "are you doing…?" he wondered.

Vanessa looked at him like this was something he should have known (which, when she thought about it, he really should have; he went on about how he knew her so well, and yet he couldn't tell? There was something fishy about that), "I am going to sit on you while you do the push-ups. If you can, then it's clear, you win." She informed him, and had she been able to cross her fingers she would have; she hoped he wasn't _that _strong.

Dan chuckled into the floor, his nose brushing it gently, "You're simply too weird, Vanessa."

She smirked down at him, "That's why we fit so well together, Humphrey." She said, padded him on his butt, "You're weird too." She then got more comfortable on top of him and poked him between his shoulder blades, "Are you ready to lose this one, sucker?"

"Is that a challenge, weirdo?" Dan quickly asked her, and by her slight nod he placed his hands into the floor and slowly pushed them both upwards. It didn't go as quick as before, but he actually did it. Vanessa cringed and moved the camera slightly to get a better shot of him. She had so lost all their 'bets' today. It wasn't like her. She'd have to think of something else to do. Something she could win at (not necessarily without cheating, she could go around that one for once), "Wow, you're actually doing this." She mumbled, as she thought more about it.

Dan groaned and managed to reply as he still moved them up and down, "I'm strong, I told you that."

Vanessa nodded, even if he couldn't see it, "I still wanna win something, though." She informed him as if that was no big deal. They moved up and down a few times, it was still getting slower and slower, "Hey!" she then said and stroked the back of his head, "How about we arm wrestle? I can win there."

Dan chuckled, while using all his strength, "You won't win, Abrams." He mumbled to her.

"I will _so_ win!" Vanessa argued and turned the camera over, so she could nod into it, as if to proof to herself and whoever might watch this sometime, that of course she could win.

"No you won't." Dan said back.

"Ye-ess…" Vanessa said again; she'd win, she'd just have to figure out how.

"No way!"

"Yes!"

"_What_ are you two doing?"

Dan collapsed onto the floor and Vanessa, from the force of his collapse, slid from his back to the floor, with her legs resting across his back, and they both turned to find Jenny in her room, looking completely scared. Dan smiled lamely at her and Vanessa immediately turned the camera to film Jenny. She then turned to Dan, who shot her a questionable look, before he turned back to Jenny, "We…" he begun, but he didn't finish. Vanessa understood why; how would they explain exactly what the point was in this? They must have looked completely stupid.

Jenny sighed, "Forget it," she mumbled and hastily turned away from them, "I don't wanna know…"

**--ooo--**

Dan objected, "No, Vanessa, come on, this is ridiculous!" he said and looked at her.

Vanessa gave him a funny look. She had placed the camera on his shelf and zoomed in so it would have their arms in the shot when they arm wrestled. She had spent the last two days while working, thinking about this idea and how she would be able to win. She was determined the carry the victory home with her this time, and she had gotten this idea pretty quickly, but then went away from it; she was pretty sure Dan wouldn't let her off that easily. She then went back to it after finding out that there was nothing else she could do. She'd just have to swing this one.

"Are you sure you want to lose again?" Dan continued. He had his arm on the table, and Vanessa was rolling up her sleeve.

This time she snorted, "I won't lose, believe me." she said and placed her elbow on the table. She glanced quickly at the camera and wriggled her eyebrows before she turned to him again, "Do you dare?" she huskily whispered, her voice low and teasing.

Dan shook his head at her; he probably couldn't believe that she wanted to go over this again, "Bring it on, Abrams." He said and grabbed her hand. His was warm and muscular and for a moment she wanted to raise it to her lips and kiss it, but decided against that. It wouldn't very well help her cause, now would it? He'd know she liked him, which was bad, and while it might throw him off so she'd win the contest, she wasn't quite sure if she wanted to risk it.

"When I reach three." She mumbled and tightened her grip on his hand. She could feel her hair fall across her face when she locked eyes with him. He grinned at her, but she clenched her jaw – she _couldn't_ lose, "One…" she said, and got ready to do what she had planned on, "two…" and right as she opened her mouth to say 'three', Vanessa pulled Dan's hand down and slammed it into the table. She shot him a cocky grin, "I won, didn't I?" she teased him.

Dan looked greatly offended, "You just _cheated_." He said and shook his head in disbelieve, "Seriously Vanessa, that doesn't count."

Vanessa's mouth formed a perfect 'o', "It counts Dan, it does." She told him and bored her eyes into his, hoping the intensity would win, but he didn't budge.

"I can't let you win if you cheat." Dan replied and pulled his hand away from her grasp like nothing, "You'll have to find something you're better at without cheating." He informed her and got out of his chair and went for the door.

"Oh!" Vanessa said, as another idea struck in her head; this they used to do when they were kids, this she had a chance at winning, "How about we _thumb _wrestle!?" she exclaimed after him.

**--ooo--**

It was Saturday and she had won the thumb wrestle. She was glad that she actually beat him at something, even if it wasn't the most athletic thing. It just counted in her book – at least she had something to show of this incredibly weird week they'd had so far. They hadn't really accomplished anything. She'd talked to Jenny and asked her questions about Dan and the first tape from her camera was full, so she'd gotten it onto her computer and watched it through. She had a lot of good footage, and she couldn't help but love looking at Dan and all the small things he did; he had this weird twitch with his eye and she found it adorable.

She had also spoken directly to the camera herself; told the unknown onlooker how she felt about Dan, relived old memories of him and sometimes them together. She couldn't very well use this in the movie, but it felt great to talk about it. Maybe she'd edit some of the un-romantic stuff into the finished film, she'd have to see about that. But seriously, so far she had things she could use – and she'd get more, hopefully.

She turned her head slightly and looked at the watch behind her on the wall. Dan would be there very soon. They'd agreed on six o'clock and there was only a few minutes until. After eating they would go meet up with her sister to be there when her band played. Vanessa usually supported her sister and the band. Her entire family was creative and they'd always been there for each other. Just because she was alone with her sister here, didn't mean they'd stop doing that. Her sister supported her film-projects too.

They would just share a quick pizza and then they'd be out of there. Vanessa had her camera with her as always, she thought it might be cool to catch some of the concert. Especially if Dan did something funny like… started to dance, maybe? Vanessa knew it wasn't nice to think bad about her best friend, but Dan couldn't dance. He just _couldn't_. She figured she might have to teach him someday or something. She was quite the dancer if she said so herself (which she did right now, since no one was there to disagree with her).

She leaned back in her chair again and stared blankly at the wall. She was happy that she didn't have to work until after noon tomorrow. She could sleep in late and just relax. Hopefully she'd be able to spend some time with Dan too. Maybe she'd just stay at his place, he wouldn't mind, she knew that. She was about to turn around and look at the clock again when she felt a pair of hands cover her eyes. She knew immediately who it was. It could only be Dan's. His hands were so wonderful, she really loved them. It was too bad she couldn't enjoy them like she wanted to.

_Vanessa, stop it!_, she told herself and moved her own hands up to cover his. She then pulled them down and turned her head around slightly. He had bent down so they were on eyelevel, "Hi." She whispered, and couldn't help the huge smile that came to her face.

"Hey." Dan replied and kissed her cheek lovingly before he moved his hands out of her and went around the table to sit down across from her. "Jenny says hello." He continued and his eyes stopped briefly by the video camera before he locked them with hers with a saying look.

Maybe it was the telepathy again, but she knew what he wanted, "It's not on!" she said and moved the camera away so the shot was on her and not him, just to prove that it wasn't on. He chuckled and she continued, "I ordered us a pizza, it'll probably be here soon." She mumbled.

"Great!" Dan said and they were quiet for a few seconds, before his eyes lit up and a smile came to his face, as if this was something he had to remember, "By the way… I meant to ask you…" he paused and took in a deep breath, "Do you want to maybe start working out together? Because I think that…"

Vanessa tried to hold back a laugh and she knew it showed in her face. Dan could read all her expressions and that was probably why he stopped speaking now because he knew she wasn't even listening to his proposal. She was too busy trying not to laugh.

"What?" he asked her and reached a hand across the table to take hers, "What's so funny, Vanessa?" he wanted to know.

Vanessa stopped laughing immediately and glanced briefly down at his hand on top of hers. She then looked up like it was no bid deal, which it probably wasn't for Dan; they often held hands, they'd done so since they were kids. It was just… well, it meant more to her now than it did back then. She then gave him the biggest smile she could muster with her heart thumping in her chest and said, "Me?" she almost chocked when she was about to laugh again, "Work out?"

Dan rolled his eyes at her, "Come one, it'll be fun!" he promised her. She had no idea what he wanted to do with her, but she knew that 'Vanessa' and 'work-out' were two words that just didn't mesh together, "And it'll be good for you." he added, trying to make an offer she couldn't resist.

Vanessa shook her head, "Sorry Dan… that's just not me." she figured he should have known that. She wasn't that type of girl. Not that she didn't like girls who were sporty, she just wasn't like that herself, "It's… it's not really my thing."

Dan tightened his grip on her hand, "But it could be…" he continued with a saying look in his eyes.

Vanessa thought about it for a second or two. It wasn't like she needed the work out or anything, but it would be nice to be more in shape. Sometimes it was better to be in shape and slightly chubby than skinny and not in shape at all. She gave Dan a small nod, "Let's try it then. It'll be fun." She said and couldn't help but smile when he smiled too.

"Thank you!" Dan said, because it was much more fun to jog two than to jog alone.

They looked to the side when a pizza was placed on their table. It was cut up in slices and Vanessa reached with her free hand for her wallet to get some money. "Here you go, lovebirds." The older woman said and eyed their linked hands on the table.

They both quickly withdrew their hands. Vanessa blushed slightly as she searched for some bills in her wallet, while Dan did his best to get out of that assumption from the waitress, "Oh…" he begun, shaking his head wildly, "Oh no… We're not… we're not together."

"_No_." Vanessa added and handed the woman some money, which she took, looking at them like she didn't believe them at all.

She then turned to Dan and gave him a saying look, "Well, she definitely ain't your sister, mister." She mumbled before she turned around and went away from them. She left them in an awkward silence. Vanessa was afraid to meet Dan's eyes. What would she say to him now? The woman had seen right through her; she liked Dan, and she wanted to be so much more than his best friend. But Dan didn't want that. He wanted things the way they were; all good and not complicated. But the woman had assumed they were a couple. That had to count for something… right?

"Soooo…" Dan said, and Vanessa finally raised her eyes, hoping this wouldn't ruin their evening; she hated it when things were awkward between them. There had been enough of that when she tried to bond with Serena, "I can't wait to hear some angry lesbian music." Dan finished, with the certain look he always had.

Vanessa couldn't help but smile at that one; she reached a hand out and whacked him on the side of the head before she reached for a slice of pizza. Somehow she knew that their evening would turn out okay. They were Dan and Vanessa, and everything would be just fine.

* * *

_I hope you enjoyed the second chapter. I know nothing much happened, but I tried to show their friendship and how Vanessa feels. There won't be any big drama in this story. I hope you liked it anyway. There will probably be longer between updates from now on, since school is starting soon. I hope it's okay._

_And thank you so much for the great reviews for the first chapter. You're all so great and it means a lot to me. I hope to hear your opinions on this chapter, too._

_**Disclaimer; **__I don't own Gossip Girl ;b _


	3. Week Three

**Six Weeks of Summer**

**Week Three:**

**I Wanna Jump in Puddles! **

The third week started out rainy. It had rained practically all Monday and Tuesday while Vanessa had been at work, and it still rained today. Dan felt very depressed about that. It was supposed to be summer and the two of them were supposed to go out and have fun and be together. They couldn't really do anything except than sit inside when it rained. Vanessa would be there later on. Right now it was raining pretty wildly so she told him she'd wait until it was more calm to go outside. He was okay with that, he understood it. Jenny was at work, so he was just there alone, which was pretty much why he started to make a house of cards.

_That's right_. One could get so bored.

It kept on falling so eventually Dan threw the cards on the table and let himself fall to the bed with a sigh. He really hoped Vanessa would be there soon or he would lose his mind. He wasn't in the very best of moods, but he figured she would be able to cheer him up. She always managed to do so, so even if his mood fitted how grey the day looked from inside, he was sure Vanessa would be the ray of sunlight he needed.

The phone rang and Dan groaned because he had to get up. This seriously wasn't what he needed right now. He knew he had to get up though, because it could be Vanessa calling to tell she would be there later, or to ask him to come on over instead. If that could be, he didn't want to risk it. So he did get himself off of the comfortable bed and into the living room where he grabbed the phone and raised it to his ear.

"Humphrey apartment."

"Since when do you answer the phone like that?"

It wasn't Vanessa. It was his father.

"Since now." Dan replied as he took a seat near the kitchen and got ready to speak to his dad. They hadn't spoken for a couple of days, and Rufus was probably just calling to check in on them. They were there all alone so of course he would make sure to call them once in awhile. He probably missed them too, and Dan had to admit that it was nice hearing his father's voice right now. Just because it was right now. He was bored anyway.

Rufus laughed in the other end, "Well that's something…" he trailed off for a few seconds and Dan enjoyed the comfortable silence, "Everything is fine with me. How about you guys?" he said, just to get the conversation going again. He probably didn't have too much time to talk, so Dan decided to make it quick.

"Everything is perfectly well." He said as he glanced outside the window again. Why couldn't Vanessa just show up now? She'd figure out what to do, she always did, "Jenny works a lot and Vanessa bugs me pretty much 24/7." He couldn't help but put it that way, but he knew it was okay. His father would know that he was only joking and actually liked hanging out with his best friend. And really… why wouldn't he? Vanessa was an amazing girl.

"You've guys been together a lot?" Rufus asked, and he seemed really interested. Dan didn't know why, but his father always used to tease him with such things. It was never easy to have a female best friend when your father was named Rufus Humphrey.

Dan sighed dramatically, "Yeah, Dad, we have." He shortly replied. He knew his father would make a big deal out of this again. He'd be really surprised if he didn't, that's for sure.

"You know Dan…" Rufus said, and this was the time, Dan could hear it. His father used the voice he always used during conversations like these. It happened with other stuff too, whenever he teased him or told him something very important – it was always that voice, "Vanessa is a beautiful girl."

Dan scrunched his eyebrows together, "Thank you for stating the obvious, Dad, that's very kind of you." he said, and hoped his father could tell by his tone of voice, how ridiculous he found this now. He had noticed how beautiful Vanessa was; it was kind of hard not to. But that didn't mean that he looked at her like that. She was just his cool best bud, nothing more. His father always teased them about it though, which was very awkward for Dan, even if he knew Vanessa just found it funny.

Rufus made a sound and Dan was sure that had he been in front of him, his face would have been formed in an odd smile, "Why don't you ask her out or something? She's such a great girl and we all love her, Dan." He paused, "And I know you like her too."

"Dad, I'm still getting over Serena." Dan said, as if it didn't bother him that his father tried to get him to go out with his best friend. It was so annoying, but he understood it. Both his father and Jenny liked Vanessa so much, she was like a part of the family, she always had been. They had liked Serena too, of course, but it wasn't in the familiar way like it had always been with Vanessa. She was just a part of it, she fitted with them.

"Yeah, sure you are, but I'm just saying you should think about it." Rufus said and Dan had a feeling that he would never give up on this. They could discuss this all day if Dan knew his father well. And he did.

Dan turned to the window with a sigh and stared out of it again, "Sure Dad, I'll think about it." he replied and before he knew what he did, he made a surprised sound and said, "Oh, hi!" he paused and hoped his father would buy his 'lie' since he wasn't a very good liar or actor, "Dad, Vanessa just walked in the door, I've gotta go! Bye!" he hung up the phone and let out another sigh.

"Dad, Vanessa just walked in the door, I've gotta go! Byyyye!"

Dan turned around in surprise to find Vanessa standing by the door, arms crossed across her chest, as she mocked him. He couldn't help the huge smile that came to his lips. She was drenched from head to toe even if a purple umbrella rested against the wall behind her. The rain was that hard and she had probably given up on the umbrella since she realized she would get wet anyway.

"What, do you always lie to Rufus about me?" she asked him as she kicked off her sneakers and crossed the room to him. Her socks left a trail of water behind her feet since her shoes were soaked as well. She glanced quickly behind herself before she gave him a huge, toothy smile, "Whoops." She said, as if it was no big deal.

Dan gave her a stern look, but he knew she wouldn't buy it; he never really got mad at her, so why would he because of water in his apartment? He nudged her in the side instead, "I never lie about you." he playfully said, as the two of them crossed the apartment and went into his bedroom. Vanessa threw herself on his bed, and he didn't mind that his sheets got all wet. He didn't mind anything as long as it was Vanessa who did it.

Vanessa took off her soaked through socks and dropped them onto the floor like nothing, "If you don't call that lying, then what do you call it?" she questioned, a small twinkle in the side of her eye.

Dan arched an eyebrow, "That wasn't a lie." He flatly said, because really, it wasn't. Sure, he hadn't known she was there, he couldn't see her since his back was against the door, but he should be in the clear because she actually had been there, "You just came through the door like I said."

Vanessa shook her head and for once her hair didn't move much since it was so wet, "Don't you try to tell me you saw me because Dan… we both know that that would be to change the truth." She held a dramatic pause and her eyes held so much love for him that he almost couldn't comprehend it, "To _lie_." She added.

But then she winked and they both broke into a full belly laugh.

Dan was happy to have her there with him again. The rain and her working had really put a downer on his mood, but the good news was that even if she hadn't been there to occupy him, he still hadn't thought much about Serena. He felt very proud about that, and he couldn't wait to share the news with Vanessa. He was confident that he actually would get over her during this summer. He couldn't explain how Vanessa did it – she just did.

"So what have you been up to, Humphrey?" Vanessa questioned as she rested her folded hands behind her head. She kept an eye on him though, even if she looked very comfortable and ready to take a nap.

Dan felt like the telepathy might get too weird at times. Right as he thought about what had happened, Vanessa asked him about it. It was so weird, but hey, with the two of them, he never knew what happened. It was like she could read his mind. She knew what he was going to say before his mouth even made one sound. It was kind of creepy, but it probably came with them being so close. He knew her better than anyone else.

"I," Dan started in a very formal voice, "have been sitting here alone, thank you very much Ms. Abrams," he couldn't help but add, because he did feel like it was kind of her fault since she had work (even if it wasn't, because she really needed the money), "and while sitting here, I haven't thought about Serena." He smiled warmly at her, and he really felt happy. It felt good to know that he was getting closer to closure with her. It really did.

Vanessa sat up straight with a huge smile on her face, "That's so good, Dan!" she happily said, and he could really hear she meant it. He also knew that she did, because she only wanted good things for him, "I'm really happy for you. You've started to move on."

Dan laughed lowly, "I'm happy about that too."

Vanessa kept on smiling at him, and he felt himself smile right back. They sat like that for a few seconds, like a pair of grinning idiots, but none of them moved. Then eventually Dan lowered his gaze and chuckled lamely before looking up again, shooting Vanessa a pair of curious eyes.

"What?" she asked him. He could tell that she was ready to giggle as well.

He didn't know what it was, but right this moment he just felt so much for her. This amazing girl who loved him with no conditions. She really did. No matter what trouble he got into, which people he hung out with – she accepted it all and learned to live with it. She was unbelievably precious like that. He just… He never wanted to lose her and their friendship. He swallowed lamely and locked eyes with her, "I love you." he softly said.

Vanessa's face glazed over and he could tell that it meant a lot to her, "I love you too, Humphrey." She softly replied and again there was a silence between them. The rain was drumming on the window Vanessa had gone through so many times and it rhythmically matched Dan's beating heart. He didn't know what it was, but he felt something right there. He felt his mouth open to say something, but he didn't know what it was. Before he managed to figure something out, Vanessa had spoken, "So what do you wanna do today?"

Dan closed his mouth again and bit his lip. He had no idea what they could do. They could watch movies, they could go out, but it rained. There was a lot of things they could do, but he had no idea. He shrugged, "I don't know."

Vanessa's eyes fell upon the window and before Dan knew what had happened they were clouded with happiness, "I wanna jump in puddles!" she exclaimed and got off of the bed with an excited jump. She rushed out of his room before Dan managed to tell her that it was a stupid idea and they'd just get sick. Of course she would probably say that it was summer rain and therefore hot outside.

He got off of his butt and hurried into the other room to find her putting on her shoes. "You really wanna jump around like little kids?" he asked her, and she raised her eyes to meet his before nodding excitingly, "In those shoes?" he added.

Vanessa stuck her tongue out at him and reached for the left shoes of his pair of sneakers, "Yeah, I do." She said and threw it at him.

**--**

"Oh Dan, look, there's a big one!"

Dan couldn't help the belly laugh that came to him when Vanessa ran as fast as she could (which was pretty fast, considering she sucked when they went jogging together) towards a huge puddle on the path they were walking down at. When she was near it, she took a huge jump and landed with both feet in there, splashing herself and an older man in the process. That caused Dan to laugh even harder as she blushing apologized to him. The man nodded and said something back, before he continued his way and Dan walked up to her, still chuckling.

"That was brilliant Vanessa, seriously just brilliant!" Dan mumbled and watched her as she moved around in the puddle. He tried to stay out of it, but she kept splashing him, "Why do you, at all times, not have you video camera with you right now?"

"Because it would get wet, stupid." She told him, not bothering to look up at him – she was too focused on what she was doing in the puddle and Dan found her extremely adorable.

He stuffed his hands into his pockets and continued, "You know I'll be sharing this moment in front of the camera once I get the chance, right?" he said. He thought he would sit down in front of it and in details explain what had happened. Of course Vanessa probably wouldn't use it because in the end she was the one who edited it and decided what went in the final movie. He could try all he wanted to embarrass her, but she would just put him on instead and make herself look good. She was evil like that.

She stopped what she was doing and looked up at her, "You know that if my camera had been water resistant I would have brought it." she lamely said, and still, he believed her. She didn't go anywhere without that video camera, "This is our summer and I wanna tape it!" she threw her arms in the air and looked upwards, not caring about the rain, "This would have been a great moment in the movie." She looked down at him again and made one last huge jump in the puddle, before she stepped out of it and placed an arm around his shoulder.

"Yeah, along with all the moments of me eating like a pig." Dan said in a stern voice as they continued down the path. It still bothered him a lot. She filmed him at moments where a camera simply shouldn't be allowed by law and he knew her well enough to know she would at least use some of the embarrassing footage – Vanessa was like that.

Vanessa giggled warmly, "You look cute, Humphrey, and don't you dare disagree with me on that."

Dan ignored her statement as they continued on their walk in the rain that had slightly slowed down and was now more comfortable, "So what do you wanna do now?" he asked her.

Vanessa stopped and turned to look at him, a determined look in her eyes, "Tomorrow," she said, her voice firm, "I'll bring my camera for another walk, I'm sure there'll still be some puddles left."

Dan rolled his eyes at her; that girl. She was just… he couldn't really describe her right now. There was no words. She was just too weird… _Amazingly_ weird.

He gave her a slight push back and she let out a loud shriek as she grabbed onto his arm so she wouldn't fall.

**--**

"Hey, why don't we go out for dinner tomorrow night?" Dan suggested, as they walked down the same path as they had been the day before. A lot has changed though, it was only slightly raining or the leaves were still wet. The clouds were partly grey, and Vanessa had her camera with her. So far she had taped as Dan jumped into a small puddle, but she was ready to let him hold the camera when she saw a big one.

She scrunched her face in his direction, "I'd love that, but I don't have any money." She informed him. He knew she worked a lot, but she probably saved those money for other things. She could spend them better than on restaurants, Dan knew that, so he wouldn't pressure her into going with him. He couldn't even offer to pay for her, since he wasn't the richest person either.

"It's alright…" he said and stuffed his hands into his pockets. He felt quite sad that they couldn't go out, but he knew they'd be together anyway. They pretty much were all the time, it'd just be fun to do something else for a change. Not that her company wasn't enough. It was, but he just figured it might be great to do something different.

Vanessa paused in her steps and hit him lightly on the arm, "Hey, why don't I cook us something!?" she exclaimed. Her face was covered with a huge smile and Dan could tell that this idea really intrigued her. She was quite the cook and he loved to taste her food. It was always something different so his taste buds were in for a ride, "I'll figure something out and we'll have dinner in my apartment."

Dan gave her a sideways smile, "Sure, that sounds great, Abrams." He replied, as he kept on walking while Vanessa tried to catch up with him. They were about to turn a corner and would that way get to the place where she had taped him in front of the lake a few weeks back. However, as he made to turn the corner, Vanessa's hand grabbed his arm and she pulled him back quickly, "What the-" her free hand covered his mouth before he managed to say anything and he looked right into her huge eyes. She seemed scared or frustrated about something and he wondered what it could be. He didn't need to ask of course, before she removed her hand from his mouth and pulled him with her back, until they stood behind a tree. She then leaned slightly forward and peeked around it.

Dan followed her example and the minute he saw what was there, he knew why she was so freaked out. On the stone he had sat on with a smile on his sad face, sat Serena and Nate. Her head rested on his shoulder and they looked more than cosy together as he held a little umbrella above their heads so they wouldn't get wet. Dan swallowed loudly, but couldn't tare his eyes away from them. Serena really sat there in all her glory. He hadn't seen her for three weeks and there she was, so in his reach. He knew he missed her company a lot, and he could feel it right now, but he was surprised to learn that he actually didn't feel a huge pang of jealousy when he saw them together. He just felt slightly uncomfortable like any ex-boyfriend would if they saw their ex-girlfriend with a new boyfriend. It felt nice to know that he was so much over her. He did not want to talk to her though. The way they ended things weren't too good and it would be awkward to march up there and say hi. He just wanted to turn around and leave.

Vanessa took a step back and he did so too, hoping that Serena was too engrossed in Nate to really notice them. He stared at Vanessa who looked uncomfortable as well. She looked more concerned though, and he knew that was for him. She was so caught up in trying to make him feel better, to get him to forget about Serena, and she probably found this a huge set-back. He wanted to reassure her, to let her know that everything was cool with him, but he wanted to get out of there first.

"We should just leave." Vanessa said, her voice hovering just beneath a whisper and Dan had to lean in closer to hear what she said. He caught a whiff of her perfume and found that he rather liked that scent on her.

It took him a moment to reply, but when he did, his voice was just as low as hers, "Yeah… Let's… leave." He felt stupid. What kind of answer was that? She would probably think he was freaked out and she had to start all over with her cure now just because he couldn't put a sentence together. That wasn't like him. He wasn't lame. Except a few times in front of Serena as he just got to know her, but that was just because he was so in love with her.

Pppppffffttt. That couldn't be the problem here, because Vanessa was his best friend and they didn't have those feelings for each other.

Vanessa turned around and started to walk towards the nearest exit as fast as possible. Dan just followed her lead, and they didn't even speak. He didn't know what to say to her. His head spun with what he had just seen, but more importantly what he had just thought. Could there really be more between him and Vanessa than he thought? He hadn't actually believed in what everyone told him around a year ago when Vanessa came back. He knew she came there because she missed him, but he hadn't thought it was because she liked him as more than a friend. That wasn't possible, even if everyone told him it was obvious.

But she _couldn't _like him. They were Dan and Vanessa. And she acted so cool about everything. She acted like her usual Vanessa-self. Wouldn't she have acted different if something was different? Dan didn't know and he wasn't quite sure if he wanted to know. He just knew that he had to figure his own thoughts and/or feelings out. It was important for the sake of his own sanity and their friendship. If something had changed he would like to be honest with her.

He wondered what Vanessa thought about right this second, too. Did she think about Nate and how bummed she was that they split? Or did she think about Serena? Or perhaps she thought about him and what he thought about like he thought about her and her thoughts?

Dan cringed. He just managed to confused himself.

Well outside the park Vanessa turned to him with an exhausted face. Her hair was slightly out of place because of the rain, but he found her look incredible. "I'm gonna go home." She softly said, her voice was flat and he knew she needed time to think.

Dan nodded shortly, "Yeah, I'll go home too. I'll see you tomorrow at six?"

Vanessa smiled warmly at him, and it relaxed him slightly, "Tomorrow at six, lover boy."

He pushed her gentle in the side before he turned the other way to get home.

**--**

Dan poked the lasagne that Vanessa had served him. It wasn't that he didn't like her food, because it was great, but this didn't look like the lasagne he usually ate. There was some green stuff in it and he wasn't quite sure which vegetable it was. Her video camera was placed on a shelf by the wall, and he knew it would catch every bit of their evening. He didn't mind it that much, so he looked up at her and found her slowly chewing a bite.

"You don't like it?" she wondered aloud, as her eyes searched his for answers.

He shrugged, "I don't know what's in it." he replied. It wasn't really an answer, but it was the best thing he could come up with. He would probably like it if he dared to taste it, but so far he had only poked it.

Vanessa placed her fork against her plate, "It's a vegetarian lasagne. There's not meat in it." she licked her lip quickly and continued, "It's really healthy, I know you're gonna like it."

Dan nodded slowly, "Yeah… yeah, I'm gonna like it." he said. He had felt sort of down since yesterday. He didn't know why that was – he couldn't figure it out. He was certain that it wasn't because he had seen Serena; it couldn't be, because he was over her. But then why was he sad? Why was his mood that down? He needed an answer. He was the kind of guy who needed answers to function. But he couldn't figure out what was up with this right now. He was just confused a lot, because if it wasn't about Serena, then it had got to be about Vanessa. But then what was it about Vanessa? Was it just because he had spent so much time with her again, or did it have anything to do with what his father said on the phone, and what he thought when they left the park?

See? A _hell _of a lot of confusion.

Vanessa picked her fork up again and got a bite of lasagne on it. She raised it to her mouth and had already opened it, when she placed the fork down again with a sigh, "I really think we need to talk about what happened yesterday, Dan." She said.

Dan's eyes locked firmly with hers. He knew that would come; he had felt it. Vanessa was like that, and it was okay. But he really didn't want to get into huge details about it. He already told her, before they saw Serena, that he hadn't thought about it. It was huge progress, and Vanessa should be satisfied with that information. However, he knew her so well, and of course she wouldn't be, "What do you wanna say?" he asked her, as he finally took a piece of lasagne on his fork and placed it in his mouth.

He wasn't surprised to find that he rather liked it.

"I'm really sorry that we ran into Nate and Serena." She started and seemed to have completely forgotten about her food, "It wasn't supposed to happen like that. I wanted you to be ready and obviously you weren't." she paused, before she softly added, "How do you feel about her?"

Dan gave Vanessa a weird look and begun to speak even with his mouth full, "I am over Serena, I already told you that. I don't think about her anymore. I don't even care about her." he knew it was kind of harsh to say and it probably wasn't entirely true. He _didn't_ want to care about her. And he'd get there eventually. But for now he liked to just say he didn't, "And it wasn't your fault that they were there. And I was okay with seeing her, I couldn't care less." He finished as he swallowed his food.

Vanessa gave him a mysteries look and Dan knew how to read it; she didn't believe him. He really found it amazing how she could get that across without even saying anything to him.

"Honestly!" Dan said and tried to look her as deeply in the eyes as possible, "Honestly Vanessa, you've done a great job, I'm over her." he looked at his plate again and contemplated how to tell her about this, how to convince her that he really was okay. He looked up at her again with renewed confidence about this; he'd let her know, he was ready to talk, "Anything you want to know, Vanessa. You can ask me. It'll prove that I really am over her."

Vanessa let that sink in as she nodded her head, her hair bouncing slightly. The clouds were still grey outside, but the rain had stopped and Dan felt like the weather had fitted his mood all week, because now when Vanessa was there with him, it was getting slightly better, "It's alright." Vanessa then said, "You don't have to tell me anything, come to think about it, I really don't wanna know."

Dan could feel his eyebrow move up, into an arch, before he suspiciously said, "Reeeeally?" with a deep voice. For some reason he really didn't believe her. Earlier on, just three weeks ago, she really wanted to know every detail.

Vanessa nodded shortly, "Really." She firmly said before she picked up her fork again with a smile, "You're happy now, that's all that matters."

Dan knew that moment why he loved her so much. She really put his needs before her own. He couldn't ask for a better best friend than her. Sometimes he really thought about what his father said. Vanessa would be the perfect girlfriend. So much better than Serena had ever been. But then again, he really shouldn't compare those two girls because they were so different in every aspect. Their looks, their personalities, the things that were important for them… Nah, he really shouldn't try to.

Vanessa let out a short breath, "So? How about that lasagne? You really like it?"

Dan took a huge bite into his mouth, "I really do." He said, as he chewed and he could see how it brought a smile to her face. He swallowed loudly and then said, "Are you dry yet, I think it wasn't possible for you to get wetter the other day?"

Vanessa made a face, "I'll let you in on a secret…" she leaned in closer, as if to whisper, even if she wasn't nearly near his ear, "My _socks_ aren't dry."

Dan couldn't help but laugh loudly, and seconds later Vanessa joined in with her girly giggle as well. This was really how Dan liked things. He didn't need fancy stuff and expensive vacations. As long as he had Vanessa Abrams he was pretty sure that he would be alright.

"That's… hot." Dan settled for, even if that had nothing to do with it. How socks could be hot, he didn't even want to explain. It was just the weird Dan/Vanessa humour, and no one outside the two of them ever understood it. He wouldn't even bother to explain it to his father or Jenny.

Vanessa reached for her soda and wriggled her eyebrows suggestively at him, and as Dan left her apartment a couple of hours later to go home and get to bed, he tilted his neck back and looked into the sky. The skies were still a mix between grey and blue, but a slight ray of sunlight peeked through.

He really believed Vanessa had something to do with that.

* * *

_I'm sorry about the slight delay. School has started and I have a few other stories I need to work on too, so I'm trying to balance it all out. I hope this chapter was worth the wait though, and that you enjoyed it. I hope I get across that their feelings are slightly changing, because if not, then nothing really happens in these chapters. ;b_

_Anyway, thank you so much for the kind reviews. They're awesome. Please do review me again? _

_**Disclaimer; **__I don't own Gossip Girl. _


	4. Week Four

**Six Weeks of Summer**

**Week Four:**

**Which Do You Prefer? Blondes or Brunettes? **

They saw Nate and Serena together again.

Vanessa hated that. She hated that the two of them were together everywhere she and Dan went. It wasn't that they were together, for all she cared they could be as together as they wanted to, but it was that they seemed to follow them everywhere. She didn't actually believe that Nate and Serena knew and did it on purpose; she and Dan were just unlucky and ended up at all the same places as them.

They had decided to go for another walk in the park. It had stopped raining after the complete mess last week, and this Tuesday it was quite hot outside, and Vanessa enjoyed the sun as it shone down on her and Dan while she filmed them goofing off in the park. Dan seemed really happy. He was a bit awkward with her, she didn't know why, but she found it cute. She hoped it was nothing, though – but she'd give him time to figure things out on his own. He'd come to her if or when he needed to.

And since it was such a nice day outside, they had expected other people to be in the park too. But they hadn't exactly expected Nate and Serena to be acting like total lovebirds on a bench. Serena was all over Nate, and he didn't exactly look like he minded it. Vanessa couldn't help but stare, really, and she knew that Dan was looking too. She believed he was over her, as he had told her countless of times, but it would probably still hurt him to see her all over another guy. Vanessa got that entirely, and she wished she could spare him of the pain.

She tried to get his attention on her, by asking him total random questions, then. She had to do something and that was all her creative mind could come up with, since she actually wasn't that up to it when she thought about it. They should have stayed in today, they should have rented a movie and cuddled together on the couch, but no-no, they had to go out because the sun shone down beautifully!

Well, it was actually pretty normal when she thought about it, but it bothered her that they had to run into the two people they really didn't want to run into.

"What kind of apples do you like the best?" she asked Dan, her video camera entirely up in his face, as they sat together on a bench. His attention was elsewhere though; his head almost turned the other way around because he had to watch Serena and Nate's every move.

"Dan?" she asked him, because it bothered her that even though Serena was no longer Dan's girlfriend, she still stole the attention that was rightfully Vanessa's. She knew it sounded selfish, but she wanted Dan to herself. She had thoughts and feelings too; she wasn't' just someone to throw away like that. She knew Dan didn't do it on purpose, but he probably also didn't know how much it hurt her when he did stuff like this. But really, how would he know? She hadn't told him.

As Dan turned around to finally look at her, he made a little jump because the camera was right there, "Shit Vanessa, you freak me out!" he said, but laughed nonetheless.

Vanessa giggled lightly too, "I asked you if you liked sweet or sour apples the best?" she said. It was actually very surprising that she didn't know this. They had been best friends for ever, but she had never really noticed which kind of apples Dan ate when he did eat apples.

Dan seemed to think about if for a few seconds and Vanessa was happy that his attention wasn't on Nate and Serena any longer, "I think I like them equally…" Dan slowly begin, a teasing twinkle in his left eye, "I mean… I wouldn't want to say that I prefer one kind over the other. That'll just hurt the ones I like less."

Vanessa broke into a giggling fit and reached a hand out to smack him lightly across the chest. That was just so typical Dan! He always had to be that way, and even if it was silly, she enjoyed it bunches too. There was just something about him she loved so much. He was this amazing creature, and she couldn't get enough of him and his funny ways. She wondered if that was how it was to be in love, but yet she didn't know. She had never been in love before, so she wouldn't know if this was it. She just knew that she loved Dan very much and didn't want to lose him.

Was it like that to be in love?

"You're stupid." Vanessa said and zoomed in on her camera so all she could see on the screen was his right eye and some of his nose, "Can you answer the next question normally?" she asked him.

On his mouth, "Yes."

"Fine." she said, and zoomed out little by little, as she felt a little bolder, "Which do you prefer?" she asked him, knowing that he would probably see right through her, but she still wanted to take the risk, "Blondes or brunettes?" her voice was husky and she didn't dare to move her eyes above her camera so he could see her; only she could see him through the screen.

Dan arched an eyebrow perfectly and said, "I've always loved blondes." He lowly whispered, and Vanessa felt her heart sink to the bottom of her stomach; she should have known.

That was how it felt to be in love, right? When you wanted something so bad, and you couldn't get it. If they were just friends, why would she be so sad? No, she was definitely in love. And this hurt her, it really did. At least he could have had the decency to lie to her when she was right there in front of him; true brunette and all.

"But I have a weak spot…" Dan continued and reached a hand out to softly push the camera aside so he could look her directly in the eye, "…for one certain brunette." He locked his eyes firmly with hers, and she couldn't hide the silly smile that came to her lips right then and there; he knew exactly what to say, didn't he?, "You're the most beautiful girl I've ever met, Abrams."

Vanessa could feel herself blush as she reached her free hand out to grab his hand. He blushed slightly by this too. If it hadn't been summer, she would have pushed it off as feeling chilly from the cold, but it was hot outside and he was only wearing pants and a t-shirt; he definitely wasn't cold, "I love you, Humphrey." She whispered to him.

Dan smiled warmly at her, and before she knew what had happened, she was in for a deep Humphrey-hug. She had always loved those. They were so warm and comforting and familiar. Never had she felt anything better and it was perfect for her to sit on a bench in the park with Dan, if he hugged her like that. She got all warm and fussy on the inside. "I love you too." He told her, his breath tickling her ear gently, and again she felt like he was acting different.

Sure, they had always been affectionate with each other, but there was something so different about Dan like this. It wasn't the real Dan, even if his hug was familiar and good – something had changed and she couldn't wait to find out what it was.

As she looked up, still trapped in his hug, she glanced slowly around, and couldn't help but notice how Serena and Nate were looking in their direction. She let her gaze fall to the ground again as her heart beat faster. What if they had seen them? What if they came over? That wouldn't be good. It would definitely ruin everything. Dan shouldn't face Serena right now, and she shouldn't face Nate. Well, actually, she really didn't want this perfect moment to be ruined. But as she lifted her eyes again, she saw that both Nate and Serena had gotten off of their bench and were now heading in their direction.

She quickly pulled back from Dan, who opened his mouth to object. She placed a hand on his mouth and locked eyes with him, "They're coming this way. They've seen us." She let her hand fall as Dan's eyes went wide, "What do we do?"

Dan seemed to think about it for a few seconds, "I really don't want to talk to her." he whispered, looking her deeply in the eye, "I might be over her, but I really don't want to speak with her."

Vanessa looked around briefly as she turned her camera off (this, she didn't want on tape), "We can't just run off!" she objected, voice hissed as she spoke with him, "That'll look weird. It'll look like we don't want to talk to them, which we really don't even though maybe we should, but since we don't want to talk to them, they might want to talk to us, but we won't want them to know that we don't want to talk to them, so we'll have to make a good excuse for not talking to them, because we won't, see, we really don't want them to know, that we won't wanna talk to them… Right?"

Dan's eyes were wide as he slowly said, "_Seriously_, did not catch a word of what you just said."

Vanessa glanced above his shoulder again and saw that the two lovebirds were getting closer. Then she did the only thing she could really think of. It probably wasn't very sane, it probably wasn't smart or clever to do, but she did it anyways. She grabbed Dan by the back of his neck and pulled his head to hers, only to then attach her lips to his. Dan was probably very stunned, for he was stiff for a second or two, but her lips kept on prying his, her tongue kept on seeking into his mouth, and eventually he got what happened; why she did this, and who she did it for.

Vanessa didn't have much time to really think of how this made her feel. She was busy giving a show to the two people this was meant for. While she would have savoured the moment so the memory could last for many years, she didn't have time to do so. She should have remembered every detail so she could think it over later, and write down some lyrics for it. But she didn't. Before she knew it had really happened, they both needed air and she pushed Dan off, them both breathing heavily.

As she glanced above his shoulder again, she saw that Nate and Serena were gone, so at least her plan worked, even if this would hurt her for a long time to come. Her fingers unintentionally went to her lips, and suddenly she realized what she had just done.

She'd just kissed Dan.

And it had been… _wow_.

Dan breathed rapidly in and out as his eyes met hers again. Suddenly everything seemed to have changed between them, but Vanessa couldn't figure out if it was a big deal or not, "Thank you… for that." Dan mumbled.

Vanessa nodded sharply, realizing that this really meant nothing; they were as good as ever; they were Dan Humphrey and Vanessa Abrams. They would always be good with each other, "You're welcome." She said and reached to turn on her camera again because she still had a movie to make.

She didn't want to think too much of this moment, even if she knew she would for many sleepless nights to come. Now when it was over, she realized how perfect it had been, how good she had felt when his lips were pressed to hers. It was like nothing she had ever felt before, and now she was really certain: she was in love with him. She was in love with her best friend.

"Hey," Dan broke through her train of thoughts, and she looked up at him, "you wanna rent a movie and go back to the apartment?"

Vanessa gave him a sly smile as she stood up from the bench, hoping that she would be able to get through this. She hoped that she would still be able to be Vanessa, even if Dan was no longer just Dan, but _Dan_.

**--**

"Oh wow, I can't believe it, look, here we have Dan Humphrey, desperately trying to stand on his hands." Vanessa giggled as Dan couldn't even swing his legs up against the wall; it was easy in her opinion, and she found it hilarious that he couldn't do it, "He'll try and try…" she whispered into the camera, before she turned it around and hoped she caught her face, "but he'll _never_ pull through." She finished, with much seriousness.

"Oh, shut up!" Dan managed to get out from his awkward position. His entire face was read because all the blood had streamed to his face. He had been trying and trying for at least fifteen minutes, since Vanessa told him she bet he couldn't do it. She knew she could, and she couldn't wait to prove it, "I'll get it in a minute." He added.

Vanessa laughed again and turned the camera back around, "Sure, sure…" she mocked him, "I'll just wait. What does a minute count for you? An hour? A day? A _month_, maybe?" she knew she shouldn't mock him like that since she had lost their arm-wrestle contest about two weeks ago. But she really couldn't help herself, it was too fun to pass, this opportunity.

Dan seemed to make a final attempt to swing his legs up, but they didn't even get halfway before they swung back down against Dan's will. He then gave up, let his arms collapse, and ended in a heap on the floor, looking at Vanessa with wide eyes, "No comments." He mumbled, as he tried to untangle himself form his own limbs, "No comments at all."

Vanessa pretended to zip her mouth, still holding the video camera in her free hand. But she had a really hard time keeping herself from laughing. He was just too cute! The way he interacted and how he was so determined to show her that he could do it, when it was very obvious that he couldn't. When he finally got himself out of the mess he had been in on the floor, she couldn't hold back her giggle any longer.

"Hey!" Dan objected and grabbed the camera from her, "It looks easy, but let me tell you, it's not!"

Vanessa managed to speak between her giggles, "Let me… show you… how it's done…, Humphrey!" she got out, and before she knew what she was doing herself, she had shed off the shirt she wore, so she was only in a tank top. She gave him a funny look and studied the space between the wall and herself for a few seconds, so she was sure there was enough room.

"Juuust take your time." Dan mocked, as if he didn't believe that she would do it.

She gave him another funny look, before she, with much strength, swung herself down, placed her hands on the floor, and let the back of her claves hit the wall. She grinned to him like some idiot when she finally stood there, watching him upside down. It was funny – when she finally did something better than him, she always teased him and made a very big deal out of it. And she loved when she did something he wasn't able to, those moments were all glorious in their relationship, and it made her feel better about how he made her feel.

She hadn't even thought of their 'kiss' since they started this silly game.

"Oh sure!" Dan said, and crossed his arms across her chest, pretending to be bothered by this, "She can't do push-ups, but stand on her hands! Oh _yes_!"

Vanessa could feel all her blood falling towards her head, and she knew for sure that it got rather uncomfortable rather fast, so she pushed herself away from the wall and let her legs hit the floor gently. As she got up and turned to look at Dan, she couldn't help but laugh because of his former comment, "Well, there's something I'm good at then!" she told him, with a shrug of her shoulders.

Dan slapped her gently on the arm before his eyes went to the clock on the wall, "Listen, Abrams, I've got to go bring Jenny her overnight bag." He paused and Vanessa gave him a funny look, wondering what Jenny was up to now, and why she hadn't just brought her bag with her when she left this morning, "Hey, I don't attempt to understand her!" Dan said, as he bent down to get on his shoes, "She texted me and said that she needed it, since she's staying over at a new friend's. I'll be back within twenty minutes."

"Aw, twenty?" Vanessa asked him, mocking him on purpose, "Are you really leaving me alone for so long? Some best friend you are." She continued. In fact, she really didn't mind being alone at the Humphrey apartment. Of course it was more fun to be with Dan than to be there alone, but she could handle it. She had snuck in to wait for him before, and she could wait for him again. She always found things to do, because she knew the Humphreys didn't mind if she touched and used their stuff.

"Go back home and cry." Dan teased her as he grabbed the bag from Jenny's room, and went for the door, "I'll see you later, loser."

"You too, loser." Vanessa playfully smiled at him as he gave her a weird look and was out the door. She watched it close before she turned around, jumped onto the couch and turned on the TV. It was like home for her in this apartment; there wasn't anything awkward about her being there. She was like family to them, and they were like the real family she hadn't really had, so she felt really blessed to be able to be there whenever she wanted to.

She felt herself grow bored by the lame show on TV pretty quickly and eventually turned it off. She just turned onto her back and stared up at the ceiling. She licked her lips with her tongue for a second, remembering the taste of Dan's lips on hers. She knew it hadn't meant anything, and that she had been the one who initiated it, but she couldn't help but admit how much she had loved it. Sure, Dan might not had had any say in the kiss whatsoever, but he had kissed her back, not pushed her away. That was something, right? She knew she would have been so embarrassed if Serena had watched her kiss Dan, only to have him push her away – she would have felt like such an idiot.

She was pretty sure it would never happen again, of course. But this was a memory she knew she would think of for a long time to come. When she had troubles sleeping she would remember what it was like to be Dan's chosen one for just a minute. How it had made her heart beat faster than healthy, how her fingertips had spun with anticipation and how her head had felt so dizzy.

She could feel herself smile now by just the thought of it. She loved Dan, she did, but she cursed him for not loving her the way she loved him. Why couldn't he just share the same feelings? Why, really? In her perfect world, all she needed was Dan to reciprocate those romantic feelings, and everything would be alright. She wouldn't need anything else, if she just had Dan Humphrey. It sounded silly and completely love struck, and normally she wasn't such a person (it went against everything her mother had taught her about females and girl power), but she couldn't help herself with Dan. He was just… he was amazing, and she wanted to keep him forever, if he allowed her to do that.

If it was even legal, she would put him in her pocket and carry him with her always.

Vanessa was about to turn onto her stomach to lie more comfortably, when the phone went off. Since it was to the Humphrey apartment, she really didn't want to pick up. Had it been Dan's cell phone, she would have picked up at the moment, but it could be someone for Rufus or Jenny and it would be better to let them leave a voicemail.

_And it's so much more polite, Vanessa_, she told herself and felt a smirk coming on.

She held her breath as the phone went to voicemail. She almost choked though, when she heard Serena's voice;

"_Hey Dan, it's me… Serena. I tried calling your cell, but you didn't answer, I don't know if you're screening my calls or something, but… I just wanted to say hi and ask you how you're doing._" The was a slight pause in her speak and Vanessa could hear her swallow while she herself sat up in the couch, wondering if she should pick up the phone or something. But her curiosity got the better of her; she had to hear this, "_I just wanted to let you know that I saw you in the park today, with… Vanessa. I can't say I'm not hurt that you're with her now,_" Vanessa could feel herself smile; they had fooled her after all, "_after you told me that there was nothing between you and her. Well obviously there has been all along, so I just wanted to let you know that I… that I know. And I'd love it if we could get together and talk sometime? I'd love to catch up. But you probably don't want to since you haven't answered any of my calls._" There was a pause again, and Vanessa stared intensely at the little device, "_Anyway, call me back, or not… whatever. Bye!_"

The silence echoed through the apartment as Vanessa kept staring at the machine. That was some of something she had just witnessed there. First off, she couldn't believe that they had actually made Serena (and possibly Nate) believe that they were now romantically involved. Second off, she couldn't believe that Serena would leave such a message to Dan. And it wasn't even on his cell! His entire family could listen to this if he didn't get home first.

Actually, now when Vanessa thought about it, she had sounded a bit off. Maybe she had been drinking, or something? The Latina wouldn't be surprised.

She turned her stare away from the machine and stared out the window, wondering what to do. What would be the right thing to do? Forget it for now and tell Dan that Serena called, and unfortunately she heard everything, since she was right there, alone in the apartment. The best thing to do? Let the voicemail be and tell Dan that someone called while she was in the bathroom and she hadn't heard a thing. The clever thing to do? Erase the message and tell Dan that nothing exciting happened while he was gone, because she knew that Dan didn't need a confused Serena to mess up his life as it was just coming back together.

Telling herself that she was only doing this for Dan because she cared, and not because she was jealous of Serena, Vanessa choose the third option and reached a hand out to erase all evidence.

**--**

Vanessa couldn't explain why it happened, but at the end of the week, after much hanging out and goofing off with Dan and her video camera, she found herself knocking on Serena van der Woodsen's door.

She had thought about this a lot during the days since she heard Serena record that message for Dan, and it had worried her a lot. She had felt guilty for not letting Dan know, but she had rationalized with herself that it was for his own best. She hoped desperately that Serena wouldn't call again and ask Dan why he hadn't responded to her voicemail, and therefore he'd know what she did. She wasn't one to do such things, not to her friends, that's for sure, and she felt so weird about it. But she only wanted good things for Dan, so she had to do this.

And while she and Dan had had a lot of fun and she had worked on her movie and written down lyrics for a new song (her sister had taught her how to play the guitar, and while she just barely managed to do it, she thought it was quite good), and pretty much just laughed and worked on her job, she hadn't been able to get this out of her head.

She didn't want Serena back into Dan's life again. She didn't want her to come and mess everything up that she had worked so hard for. She believed that if Serena started talking to Dan again, everything would be ruined. Dan would fall back in love with her again, and she would be forgotten. It wasn't very flattering for her to think that way, because of course she wanted Dan to be happy, but he could be happy without Serena. It was actually for his own best that she did this, she convinced herself. If he happened to fall for her somewhere along the way, well, hey… that wouldn't bother her too much. She just had to make sure that Serena didn't screw everything up, because she did tend to do that a lot.

So that was pretty much why she stood in front of the door now, waiting for someone to open. She hadn't planned what she would say, she had no idea, actually, but it happened so that her feet carried her there, and now she wasn't going to back out. She was going to face Serena and ask that blonde princess to just step off!

As the door opened, she came face to face with Serena. Luckily enough it was her, because she would have felt so stupid if she had to ask whoever else that would open, if Serena was there. She wasn't exactly someone they'd expect Serena to talk to, so risks were she might not even have been let in.

"Hey." She softly said, and bit back the smile that wanted to come onto her face because of Serena's confused expression.

Serena squeezed her eyebrows together and grabbed the doorknob tightly, "Hey…" she trialed off, and the questions in her eyes were more than enough for Vanessa to know that she had to explain herself.

She stuck her left hand into the pocket of her worn-out jeans skirt, "I just wanted to talk to you about Dan." She said, knowing it was probably best to start out slowly. She didn't want to be rude or anything, and perhaps she wouldn't even need to be so, if they talked calmly about it, "Do you have time?"

Serena had to be very curious because she nodded sharply and stepped aside, to let Vanessa pass, which she did. Then Serena closed the door behind them and let her into a beautiful furnished room. Vanessa just took a seat on chair; she knew she didn't belong there, and she felt like she sat on needles. She didn't even _want_ to belong there if she had the option.

Serena shot her an awkward smile, "What did you want to say?" she asked her.

Vanessa brushed some invisible dust off of her knee and looked up at the blonde girl, "I heard your voicemail." She said, started out with that, knowing it was best to get it said, "Dan hasn't heard it."

Serena's eyebrows were arched together, and Vanessa knew she had to explain herself _even further_.

"I was alone at his apartment when you called." She quickly elaborated, "I thought it was very sweet of you to call, but you have no idea what Dan has been through this month since you guys broke it off." She paused and felt herself grow hot; she cared so much about that, she talked of him with so much passion in her voice – she could even hear it herself, "I've worked my butt off to get him to get over you, Serena, and I… I really don't want you to mess that up by going back into his life."

As she explained herself, she could see Serena's face grow angry. Her eyes got smaller, and her smile faded slowly. She wasn't happy about this, Vanessa could clearly see that; she hadn't exactly expected her to be, so she was prepared for whatever might come her way.

"You _erased_ my message for Dan!?" Serena hissed at her. Her voice was full of hatred towards her, but Vanessa wasn't scared. She had faced tougher things (_cough_–Blair and Chuck–_cough_; they were definitely tougher), and she could easily face this.

She shot Serena a mischievous grin, "I did, yes." She shrugged, before she continued, "I figured it was in his best interest if he had no conversations with you. You need to leave him alone."

"You don't decide what I do about Dan and I!" Serena objected, now standing up from the chair she had sat on during the entire, but very short, conversation. "We're our own persons! Dan is his own, he can think for himself! If he wants to talk to me, he should!"

Vanessa stood up from her chair too, so Serena didn't have such an height advantage, "You're gonna make him miserable again, Serena! He's over you! Move on too!" Vanessa firmly said, hoping that what she told the blonde now, wasn't entirely untrue. She had no idea if what Dan had told her really was right, if he was over Serena, but now she had told Serena that, and it wouldn't hurt to let her believe so.

Serena shook her head at her, blonde hair falling everywhere, "You just want him to yourself, don't you?" she asked her, and a lump was clearly seen in her throat. Vanessa stared her right in the eye, even if she felt very uncomfortable, "You've gotten him now, and you're afraid you'll lose him to me if I see him."

Vanessa ignored how much that hurt, and how right on Serena was. Because she was… It wasn't only about Dan, Vanessa had known that all along, even if she had decided to ignore it. It was about her too. She didn't want to lose Dan, she was finally closer to him, finally closer to being with him like she so badly wanted to. And she was afraid that he'd take Serena back if she just as much as battered with her eyelashes, "You know _nothing_ about me and Dan." Vanessa said, her voice was slightly shaky, but it was full of strength, "You don't know anything about our relationship, and you don't know what I _want _for Dan… I'll tell you though, I only want good things for him, and if you come back into his life, he's gonna be miserable once more."

This seemed to have some impact on Serena, because she didn't answer, she just stood there. Vanessa decided to continue then, because she was on a roll here, and she felt good about it, "If you do this Serena, if you call him again, or if you go to his apartment to see him, _everything_ I've worked for goes down the drain…" she paused and felt her heart tighten by the thought of Dan, by the thought of seeing Dan so miserable again, "He's finally happy, Serena, and you _can't_ ruin that."

Five minutes later Vanessa found herself on the street again. Serena had kicked her out of there with no happy words and no promises to leave Dan alone. Vanessa knew that this couldn't be good; how would she ever be able to explain herself to Dan when he found out?

All she hoped was that Serena might still have a bit of love left for Dan, and therefore let him be. At least Vanessa knew that if Serena loved him enough, she would want him to be happy.

That was what _she_ wanted anyway.

And she loved him too.

* * *

_So yeah. I hope you liked this chapter. It took me long enough to write it, I know ;b I hope the confrontation was good enough, that was how I expected it to be, anyway._

_Thank you so much for the awesome reviews. I hope you know how much I appreciate them. _

_**Disclaimer; **__I don't own Gossip Girl. _


	5. Week Five

**Six Weeks of Summer **

**Week Five:**

**I Might Have Dropped a Few in Your Hood, Dan…**

When Serena showed up at his doorstep that Wednesday, it was safe to say that Dan felt more than just a little confused.

She just stood there, blonde hair cascading down her shoulders, and dressed in one of her usual outfits; flashy and ready for the runway. Her makeup was done perfectly and she had a smile on her lips. It didn't reach her eyes though, and therefore Dan knew that this wasn't something good.

He didn't know what she did there; why she had come to see him, because they hadn't spoken for so long. He thought that maybe she had come to yell at him for being with Vanessa as she had seen them in the park, but then again – why would that bother her? She had been hanging out with Nate so much, she shouldn't complain.

"Se-Serena?"

He hated himself for stuttering, but he couldn't help it. She made him nervous as she stood there, her eyes hard.

"Hey." she said, but at least her voice was soft, so maybe this wouldn't be too bad, "Can I come inside for a minute? I need to speak with you."

Right now she looked so fragile and hurt, and even if he hated her for what had happened, and was over her completely, he still didn't want to see her like that. If he could, he wanted her to be okay, so therefore he nodded slightly and stepped aside to let her pass. He was happy that he was home alone and that Vanessa was at work because this moment, he was sure, was supposed to be just the two of them.

He actually hadn't seen Vanessa too much the past week. And when they had been together, she had acted very strange. Stranger than normal, and that was a lot for Vanessa; she could be a very weird girl when she wanted to. But he figured it was because summer was over soon and they wouldn't be able to hang out so much once they both had to go to school and/or work again.

Serena took a seat on the couch and Dan sat down a good deal away from her; he still wasn't too comfortable around her, and he figured that he might never be. But it wouldn't even matter, because he wouldn't even see her that much. Those few times where they'd cross paths, he'd just have to deal with it.

"So…" he begun; he felt kind of shaky, but it had gotten better after the first shock wore off, "What did you want to speak with me about?" he swallowed a lump in his throat and smiled at her.

Serena eyed him for a few seconds. Her purse was on her lap and she hugged it tightly, and leaned forward, a deep, thoughtful look across her face, "I…" she bit her lip, before she said, "I don't know if Vanessa told you this, but she paid me a visit last week."

Dan felt his heart stop for just a second. He wasn't sure if he had heard correctly. Did she just say that Vanessa had gone to see her? Why would she do that? It didn't even make sense. Vanessa didn't like Serena, so why would she go to talk to her? He looked up at Serena and arched an eyebrow, "What do you mean? What did she do?"

"She stopped by." Serena continued to explain in a soft voice, "She wanted to talk to me about you and me, and… her." she paused slightly and drew in a breath, "I saw you at the park with her."

Even if Dan still didn't understand what had happened between the two girls, he was sure that whatever it was, Vanessa was the one he should support since she was his best friend and only wanted good things for him, "Yeah… and so?" he said and tried to play it off as cool. Serena should never know that Vanessa kissed him just for show.

Serena give him an odd stare, "And so nothing." She replied, like it was no big deal, when really, she looked kind of sad. She then seemed to think again, before she opened her mouth and continued, "No actually, I take that back, Dan… How could you do this to me?" she asked him, finally letting him show why she was really there; letting him know that it had affected her to see him kiss Vanessa.

Dan bit his lip, "What do you mean, how could I do that to you?" he asked her. He knew perfectly well what she meant; he just wanted to hear it off of her lips. It would make him feel better about himself. To know that he wasn't the only one of them who had been upset about their break-up.

Serena locked her eyes with his, "You told me you didn't like her." she softly said, voice little, "You told me that you had never really dated her, that she was only your best friend." She paused again, and took in a shallow breath, "That doesn't even make sense… you're kissing on her now."

Dan remembered how concerned Serena had been about him and Vanessa's relationship. Back then he had told her not to worry; there was nothing to worry about, nothing was going on between him and Vanessa, but had he been dating Serena now, he wouldn't have told her that with such confidence. Things had changed and there was a slight possibility that him and Vanessa might be something… someday.

"Yeah…" he said, nodded his head slightly, "I am." He shrugged and tried to act his best; so she wouldn't know that there really was nothing there, but that it only might just be starting.

Serena looked into the floor, "I guess Blair was right then…" she whispered, and looked up at him again. He didn't bother to question what Blair had to do with anything; they'd probably talked, and honestly, it didn't really concern him too much. She sighed, "Well, she is sort of pretty, I guess." She finished off, and tried to smile at him.

Dan nodded again, "Yeah." He firmly said, and just to make sure that she knew that he was completely over her, he added (and this wasn't even a lie; his opinion had changed since he dated Serena), "She's the most beautiful girl I've ever known." He finished.

He could clearly see the flash of hurt across Serena's face, even if she tried not to let it show.

"Was that all?" Dan said, this time softer, because then he felt bad about hurting her feelings – he wasn't really that type of guy; he just wanted everyone to feel good about themselves.

Serena shrugged for a second, "I had another thing to discuss with you." she said, her voice was firm now, and she looked ready to fight a battle, she looked ready to hurt him now, to give him back for what he had just said, "…I called you, did Vanessa tell you that?" she then quickly rambled off, and for a second Dan didn't believe her, until he locked eyes with her again.

She was telling the truth, Dan could see that. He had always been able to tell when she was lying. He always got this feeling, but he didn't use to be able to put his finger on what it meant. But now he could, he knew that she told him the truth, which now worried him…

Serena had called? When had she called? And why would Vanessa know? He should have known because everything usually went to voicemail, unless Serena hadn't left one, but that would be kind of stupid if she wanted to talk to him. He shot her a questionable look, "What are you talking about?"

"That day after I saw you in the park." Serena quickly explained, like it was no big deal, "I called you and I left a voicemail. Vanessa then came to talk to me the other day. Apparently she had deleted my message because she didn't want me to talk to you."

Everything seemed to fall into place for him there. It made sense now, what had happened. But it didn't make him feel less weird. He understood why Vanessa wouldn't want him to talk to Serena; she looked out for him, that's who she is. But that didn't give her the right to go and delete his messages. It made him feel so stupid – he could decide what to do himself, and he needed to be able to trust Vanessa; they only had each other, as she so often had put it. He had to be able to know that she wouldn't lie to him or do such thing.

She had just proved him wrong, and he had to figure out what to do about that. He was disappointed in her, and hurt by her, but right now he couldn't dwell too long on that – he had to deal with Serena. She sat right there and looked at him, and she looked particularly pleased to let him know what Vanessa had done.

He wanted to act on his emotions, be sad and hurt by Vanessa, but he had some pride, and even if it wasn't often he did such thing, he'd hold it in and not let Serena know. Because it was probably what she wanted; to make him mad at Vanessa, and he didn't want to give her the pleasure.

He'd just have to go talk to Vanessa as soon as he could.

"Oh yeah…" Dan said, and nodded his head along, like the story didn't seem too unfamiliar to him, "Yeah, she told me about that." he made up; he knew he wasn't the best liar, and Serena could probably tell. Not that it mattered that much; at least he'd give it a try, "It's alright, I really don't want to talk to you that much, Serena."

He swallowed again, and he knew that Serena knew that he was lying.

But she didn't say anything. She gave him another weird look, letting him know that she didn't believe him, and then she grabbed her purse tighter and stood up, "Alright." She said, and let the words roll lightly across her tongue "I'll just leave again then, I guess…" she didn't even move to hug him before she went for the door.

He followed her there and gave her a short nod, "Alright…" he said, and let it sound as normal as possible, "Keep safe." He finished off with, before he closed the door behind her and could finally be alone to think things over.

What was he going to do about Vanessa now?

**--**

As Dan knocked on the door to Vanessa's apartment that Friday, he was pretty sure about what he was going to say. He'd thought at lot of things over since he had seen Serena two days ago, and how to deal with this Vanessa-'problem' was only one of them.

He'd thought a lot about himself and Serena too. He had been pretty sure that his feelings for her were gone. He'd spent so much time with Vanessa, and actually come to like her more than was probably healthy. She was his ray of sunlight through the grey clouds and she made him very happy. He remembered what his father had said about Vanessa, and he'd really thought a lot about it. He hadn't come to terms with it quite yet, but he was getting there. And Serena, well… he was over her. He was totally and completely _over_ her. There wasn't any feelings left for her, and while it was very cute and sweet of Vanessa to want to take care of him, it was still tough for him to realize that she had went there to fight his battle – a battle that was actually nonexistent since it wasn't a problem for him.

He had tried to think of why Vanessa would want to watch out for him that way, and he had thought of many solutions. Some were probably too out there, and some too good to be true, but he'd have to talk to her about it. He wanted to tell her that he knew what she had done. And he had to let her know – no matter how sad she would be – that he didn't appreciate that she fought his battles.

He might need to tell her off a little bit, but he had done that before. They'd had fights before and it had only made them stronger. And Vanessa could take the punch; she was a strong girl, and of course he wouldn't tell her, unless he knew she could take it. Because he watched out for her too.

When Vanessa opened the door, she seemed very happy to see him. She gave him a kiss on the cheek and invited him inside. Her sister was at band rehearsal so they had the apartment for themselves which was very nice when Dan needed to talk to her about this. He wasn't quite sure what to start with, but when they sat by the small table in the kitchen, he just went right for it.

"Vanessa…" he begun, voice serious, and eyes locked with hers. He could tell she looked worried, so maybe she had a feeling what this was about.

She offered him an insecure smile, and it was such a different Vanessa from the one who usually smiled so over-exaggerated at him, "Yes?" she questioned.

He gave her a look, "I know you deleted one of my voicemails. The one from Serena." He just said; he wasn't quite sure how to put it, so that was how it went. He watched as her face fell and she took in a deep breath.

Thinking for a few seconds about what to say, she opened her mouth to speak, "I – I did it for you, Dan!" she quickly said, voice quivering and very low, "I did it because I didn't want to see you sad again. Please understand that. I didn't do it to meddle." She was rambling now, and it sometimes happened when she was very nervous, "I just didn't want Serena to waltz back into your life and ruined everything we worked for during summer." She softly shook her head at him, "I mean… you're finally over her." the last part was soft, and even if Dan wanted to be mad at her for doing this, he also wanted to hug her right then and there and tell her that everything would be okay.

He went for the being mad-part though, because he had to let her know that it was alright for her to take care of him, but that she had crossed a line and that he could take care of himself too, "Sure, Vanessa, that's very nice of you." he said, voice firm, "But I can take care of myself. If I had gotten her call, I would have told her myself that I was doing just fine without her. You didn't need to do that for me."

"I'm sorry…" she just whispered, and cringed. She probably didn't like it when he used that tone with her; at least she didn't use to.

He gave her a sharp nod, "Yeah, you should be!" he firmly said. He didn't like that she was acting this way, but he had to get this done; he had to get it said to clear the air between them. Otherwise it would affect their friendship and he didn't want that, because he _loved her_.

"I'm sorry." She just repeated.

But he wasn't finished, even if he hated what he was doing to her; he had to add a few things, "And you also went against my privacy. Sure Vanessa, you're my best friend… but I'm still me, and what happened between Serena and I, is something I need to handle myself." His voice had gotten softer now, and she looked very relieved, "It was my private phone call, and not only did you listen to it, you also deleted it. I thought you had more respect for me than that."

"I do!" she quickly said, and it looked like she knew what to do now; at least she looked more confident, "Dan, I do. I respect you so much." She said, "But… I just thought that I did a good thing. And I wanted to tell her was to leave you alone, and I'm sorry… It wasn't any of my business. _Sorry_."

She emphasized the last 'sorry' and Dan couldn't help but let a small smile come to his face. She was so unbelievably cute, and the feelings he had sort of experienced these past weeks might affect him slightly too. He wanted to be mad at her longer, but he figured it was okay to be happy now – she _had_ said sorry and she genially looked like she was. He just needed her to promise him one thing, and then everything would be good between them again. They could be Dan and Vanessa, and everything would be fine.

"Alright…" he said, and let that smile blow out fully, "I just need you to promise me… that you won't do it again, Vanessa. I really can't handle it if you do things like that."

Vanessa made a mock-sour face and said, "What do you take me for, Humphrey?" she was joking, because really – she was very happy that everything was okay between them, Dan could easily see that, "_Of course_ I promise you that. I've learned my lesson." She did a Scout's honour and Dan couldn't help but chuckle lightly.

"Thank you." he happily said, but there was still one thing he needed to say; one thing he needed to assure her of. He told himself that it didn't have anything to do with how Vanessa had made him feel lately, that it was just to let his best friend know that she shouldn't worry. He had a hard time trying to convince even himself of that though, so he hoped Vanessa wouldn't question it, "You do know that I'm over her right, Abrams?" he said, "You don't have anything to worry about."

Vanessa grinned at him, "Really?"

"_Really_."

"Well, that's good." Vanessa said, a light giggle escaping her lips, "I know you've said it before, but now I'm sure, Dan… Thank you."

He winked at her and appreciated her honesty, "That's good, Vanessa…" he laughed, and leaned over and hugged her tightly. He took in the feeling of her arms around him, and her scent surrounding him until they parted and she had a huge grin on her face too, "Now that that's out of the way…" he smiled, very relieved that indeed it _was_, "What do you wanna do today?"

Vanessa stuck her tongue out at him and said, "I wanna spend it with you, best friend." She giggled and leaned back in her chair, stretching her legs out completely, "Got any ideas? Oh!" she lit up and her eyes got huge, "How about we go to the movies!? I don't have to work tonight."

Dan reached a hand over and grabbed hers tightly, gave it a light squeeze, "Great. Doesn't matter what we watch – I just want to be with you today." He felt her squeeze his hand back and it gave him a weird tingle on the inside. He'd really missed her even if he had been mad at her. She was just so amazing, and if he went to a movie with her, he could almost pretend it was a real date, and that they were going out.

Vanessa turned her head upwards and stared at him with eyes so full of love and adoration. They were such a wonderful brown and he could almost get lost within them, "I wanna spend it with you too, silly." She whispered.

Dan just gazed right back at her and wondered how it was possible for him to love someone that much.

It was seriously wicked.

**--**

As they came out from the movies that evening, Vanessa was happy to know that Dan had forgiven her. She had known last week that she had screwed up; she had been sure of it. She knew it was a stupid thing to do, to delete Dan's message, but she hadn't been able to help herself. Luckily enough Dan cared a lot about her, and he had forgiven her. She'd just make sure never to do such thing again – not that she would if it ever meant losing Dan.

"You liked the movie?" Dan questioned her, as they went out of there, their shoulder brushing slightly as they started down the street. Vanessa got her video camera out of her camera bag; she had brought it with her, knowing she couldn't use it at the movies, but that if they went somewhere else (which most likely they would), she could always tape them. Dan gave her a surprised look and continued, "Oh _no_! Not the camera!" he mocked her.

Vanessa smiled to him. She honestly hadn't paid much attention to the movie; she had been busy eating popcorn, and those she hadn't eaten, she had stuffed into the hood of Dan's sweatshirt. They were still sitting there, and she couldn't wait until he noticed. It was going to be so much fun, but she was glad she wore sneakers, because she'd have to run for her life. "The movie?" she said, and ignored his mock of her video camera, just so she wouldn't have to comment on it, "It was… okay." she said, answering his question about the movie, even if she wouldn't know.

Dan chuckled lamely next to her and bumped his shoulder with hers, "Oh really, it was… okay?" he gave her an odd look, "You wouldn't know, Abrams, you were stuffing your face with popcorn."

She knew she had a mischievous look in her eyes, but she just couldn't help it, "I was? How would you know unless you didn't pay attention to the movie either?" she challenged him. When he didn't answer, she laughed at him, "Haha, Humphrey! You're caught! _Gotcha_!"

Dan rolled his eyes at her, but couldn't help but smile, "Aha, you're so clever."

She stuck her tongue out at him, happy to be back to the way they were, to be able to tease him so they were just Vanessa and Dan, "And you're so stupid." She said, making sure to catch his reaction with her camera, which had been turned on the entire time.

"You know what?" Dan just asked her, as if he didn't really care, "I'm not even going to comment on that, Vanessa." He stuffed his hands into his pockets and picked up speed, Vanessa followed right after him, knowing that he was just teasing her as well, "I'm going to take the high road."

Vanessa moved to walk backwards in front of him, hoping he'd say something if she was to walk into someone, "And where might that high road take us, Mister?" she asked him, an eye squeezed together as if in thought.

"Aaah, you're so funny." He said, using a low tone. He stopped then and so did she, watching him through her camera, "And I think we're going to get some coffee."

Vanessa actually liked that idea, so she let her camera fall and moved to stand next to him, "So where do you wanna go?" she asked him. She didn't want him to still have popcorn in his hood when they went there, in case he decided to take his sweatshirt off; there'd be popcorn everywhere – so she had to get him to take it on before they got there.

"Just down the street." Dan replied, as he moved to cross the busy road.

Vanessa caught his sleeve though, and smiled sweetly at him when he looked questionably at her, "Hey, why don't you take on your hood? I want to have a funny shot with that." she held up her camera to emphasize her point, hoping that he would believe her and just do it.

Dan looked weirdly at her for a second and she moved her camera up to let it rest against her shoulder, so she'd catch the glorious moment, "Sure…" he mumbled, with an arched eyebrow, before he moved his hands backwards, caught the end of the hood and pulled it up. Before they both knew of it, popcorn were falling down his shoulders and his back, and he shot her a mean glare, "_Vanessa_!" he said, voice angry.

She made an innocent face while she tried to hold back her laughter, "Whoops." She replied, and took a step away from him, still trying to film everything, "I might have dropped a few in your hood Dan, I guess I should have told you…"

Dan took a step closer to her, and Vanessa knew what came next; she shrieked and turned around on her heel, sprinting down the street. She could hear Dan was right on her tail, and she jumped quickly to the side to avoid and elderly couple.

"I'm gonna catch you, you know that!" Dan hollered behind her, but Vanessa just laughed.

* * *

_I'm so sorry about the long delay with this chapter. But I got half of this written, when suddenly I was inspired to write the last half of next chapter, so I went and wrote that instead, which meant that I still needed something for this chapter. I'm very sorry, but that'll mean that hopefully next chapter (and last chapter) will be here before. But then again… I am going to Spain in about a week, so I might not have time to write it before I get home._

_I know this wasn't the longest chapter, but my material didn't last as long as I had thought it would. I hope it's okay though._

_Thank you so much for the kind reviews; you know I love them. Please leave a comment with your thoughts. _

_**Disclaimer; **__I don't own Gossip Girl. _


	6. Week Six

**Six Weeks of Summer**

**Week Six:**

**How Will You Know? **

Vanessa couldn't be more relieved that summer soon was over. Sure, they had had such an awesome time together, her and Dan, but she was sure she'd lose her mind soon if she didn't spend less time with him; being so close to him when she didn't have him, made her go insane. She wanted to spend time with him, she wanted to be with him and have fun with him, but she couldn't handle it, not when she couldn't tell him how he made her feel. It was crazy, and she knew she had to do something about it.

That was why she had made a plan.

It was brilliant, she actually believed it was. She remembered that already during the start of summer, she had sat down in front of her video camera and babbled on and on about her and Dan, and how she wanted to be with him, how she wanted them to be a couple and how he made her feel. She had practised how to tell him and she had tried to get the sentence right inside her head, as she talked to the screen. She had done that, she had written poems about it too, lyrics as well. She had gotten so very, very far about how to go around it, and now she was pretty sure that it was the time.

She had edited her movie. She had done a good job with her material. She had had a lot to choose from, which was every director's luck, but she hadn't just edited one piece. She had edited two. And it was pretty much the same in both of them. Except for… except for her revelation. She had edited that part in by the end in one of the pieces. She wasn't sure yet which one to show Dan, but she'd have to make up her mind by the end of this week; she figured she'd know what to do once it was time. At least she hoped she would.

And she didn't only have her movie(s) to show of her summer and her feelings for Dan. One of the 'songs' she had written, had actually turned out quite good and she had gotten her sister to help her put some music on it. She could play a little guitar, but it wasn't much. She knew how to do her song though, but it was rusty, and she spent a lot of time playing it just to get better. She figured that if she told Dan about her feelings, she'd play her song for him one day.

She was an artist, and she knew it. She was creative, and most often artists could do more than just one kind of art. She had never figured herself as a poet, but with the sister she had, it wasn't unbelievable. But she was still quite surprised when her sister read her lyrics and told her that they were actually quite good with the right kind of music to go to. She didn't understand what it was about artists… it was something about their brains being overactive or something. But it worked out very well for her, because it was what she really lived and breathed for… and Dan too, _of course_.

Vanessa sighed and strummed her guitar briefly. She knew she wasn't the best singer, but she didn't sound too horrible. She wondered if she would ever be able to sing this song to Dan. He would, without a doubt, tell her that it was beautiful, but she wondered if he would know the real meaning too. If he would be able to see it. If she told him of her feelings first, of course he would, but if she didn't… he'd probably think it was about someone else.

Vanessa's eyes moved to the sheet of lyrics on her table and she placed the guitar more comfortably in her arms. She decided to sing the song again and try her best to reach all the right notes and everything. She'd just have to practise and it would be perfect.

"_They say love can be wrong and simple and true__  
But they've never seen me with you  
I do only my best, try all my might  
But there's nothing simple about it_  
…_right?_"

She remembered how her parents always used to tell her to just go with the flow and live her life and be happy at all times. It sounded so easy and simple when she was younger; they were the proof that it could happen like that, it just isn't often that it does. Her parents' love was very simple, but her and Dan's weren't. Even if it was their love in a friendly way – it still wasn't simple. And she often thought about why that could be, but she never found an answer. Apparently her love for Dan wasn't meant to be as simple as they say it can be. But she really hoped it would be once she told him how she felt.

Maybe they'd still fight. Maybe they'd still disagree. They most likely would. After all… they would still be the same people, they would still be Dan and Vanessa, nothing would change about that. They'd have their opinions, their likes and dislikes, they'd tease and mess with each other… they'd just have all the other stuff too, all the kisses, the hugs, the love…

The perfect love, she knew it would be perfect. At least for them it would be. To others it might look weird and imperfect, but to them… to them it would be wonderful.

"_I love your hugs,  
Your touch, the way you move  
And you know I love the sound of your voice  
When you simply say 'I love you'_

_I practise the sentence in my head all over and over  
an__d over again  
I want to tell you how your smile makes me feel  
But I'm numb then and there  
Love got my tongue  
Words come out wrong  
But how will you know then?  
How will you know?_"

She figured it should be easier for her to get it said. She and Dan were so close; they had known each other for ages, and best friends were supposed to be able to tell each other everything. But this… this she just couldn't get said. No matter how many times she had tried, to herself, in front of her mirror, in front of her camera, it just didn't work for her. Maybe it was because there just wasn't a right way to say it, maybe she ought to just get it done and said? But it was scary. What if he didn't give back a positive reply?

And she had tried before, she really had. And maybe that was why she was so scared too. She was worried that it would come out wrong again, that she would choke on her own words, that she'd word vomit all over the place… She had tried, but then chickened out. Started to say it, but then ended with something else. It was very untypical her, because she had always said exactly what she believed and what she meant. She had done so with everyone, also with Dan – but exactly at this point it was different.

She just couldn't see how he would ever know if she didn't get it said.

"_I love your hugs,  
Your touch, the way you move  
And you know I love the sound of your voice  
When you simply say 'I love you'_  
'_I love you'  
I love you too  
You know, I do _

_And I ask you why it wasn't me  
I felt so empty, and you couldn't see  
I felt like a fool, I just wanted you  
I still do  
And I will lose my mind  
I swear it's true_"

She really did love him. And it might sound weird for someone so young. They say that you don't know who you want to spend forever with when you're only still a teen, but she just… she really loved Dan. They balanced each other out so well, and who wouldn't want to have forever with the person they trusted the most? The person they could tell everything to? She knew she did. And that person was Dan.

She just felt so stupid because during all this time she had been waiting around for him; hoping that he might soon see the light, but it had only been about Serena for him. She hated that, but at least it was over now and she had a better chance. It gave her some hope, even if she still didn't understand what he ever saw in her; why he couldn't see what was right in front of him instead. Even Blair had noticed! But then of course… she did do gossip better than anyone.

But now when it was finally over for good between Dan and Serena (at least that was what he had assured her of the other day), maybe she could finally tell him how she felt. Maybe she wouldn't feel like such an idiot anymore, maybe she wouldn't go crazy. She just had to get it said.

"_But how will you know?  
How will you know?_"

Vanessa let the sound of the guitar fill the room completely as the song came to an end and her eyes fell on the window, at the clear, blue sky outside. She sighed again and blinked, "But how?" she asked herself aloud, "How will I get it said?"

That was the problem, it was the key. She had to get it said, she knew that now. She couldn't live her life forever like this. She had to let him know. And as it seemed right now, if she didn't want to choke and mess everything up, she had to use her movie.

It seemed like the only solution to her if she ever wanted for them to be something more.

And she really did.

**--**

As Dan, that Sunday, was sitting in front of the small TV in Vanessa's apartment, waiting for her to show him her 'movie', he felt himself getting kind of anxious. He had always known that at some point he would be able to see what they were like together, but it was so suddenly. What did the two of them look like when they were together? He was always a part of it, he didn't see what other people saw. And it would be nice to see himself through the eyes of Vanessa when she held the camera.

He had no doubts that it was going to be a fun movie; they had done a lot of crazy things during summer. But he also had some kind of feeling that it all weren't just fun. He had no idea what Vanessa had chosen, and they had had serious conversations too. About Nate and Serena and them. It would be kind of weird to relive all that. But he still couldn't wait; Vanessa was so good at these things – it would be fun.

Vanessa looked up from the computer, she was busy trying to hook everything together with all those cables, "It'll just be a minute." She told him.

He didn't reply, he just nodded and watched her as she continued to work. She had seemed particularly jumpy since he arrived. He wasn't sure if that was a good sign or not. He wanted to tell her to slow down; he wanted to tell her what was on his mind, but he wasn't too sure if he would be able to get the words together. He told himself that he would just do it, but it was never easy like that. He remembered when they were younger, and how simple it had been to just go over and hug her, take her hand, and kiss her cheek.

It wasn't as simple as that any longer, and he longed to be eight again so he could hold her like that.

Vanessa finally pulled back from her computer and stretched herself out, "Done." She told him, eyes twinkling oddly in the light from the screen. She turned to him then, more serious than he had seen her in a long time, "I really hope you like it, Dan." She said, voice low and edgy, and full of passion.

Dan offered her the best smile he could muster, "Why wouldn't I?" he questioned.

She arched an eyebrow, "You'll see." She said, before she sat down on the floor, too far away from him in his opinion, and turned to start the movie.

He felt weird about her comment. He'd see? Well, what could it be? What could she have done since he wouldn't like it? She was full of tricks, he had always known that, but it was just the two of them in that movie… What could she have possibly added to it? He had no idea, and even if it worried him now, he wanted to see.

He looked to the screen as Vanessa came on. Her face couldn't possibly have been closer to the screen, and he chuckled lowly. She started to go on about their summer and how she had made it her mission to cheer him up, and then came the scene from the first week where she had tried to wake him up. He laughed again as their discussion about breakfast and awesomeness started. When that was done, several pieces of them together in the park, and eating dinner and doing push-ups came on. He gave her a mean stare though, when several shots of him eating like a pig came up right after each other, but she just laughed a nervous giggle.

There was an about-two-minute long shot of him _trying_ to dance to her sister's concert the second week, and he felt himself blush; it was official – he _really_ couldn't dance. Then there was a long segment where he had filmed her as she jumped in puddles and he felt himself smile because she looked so amazingly cute. Their dinner came on, as well as their talk about Serena (again!), and then came the scene from last week where he had gotten popcorns all over him when he took his hood on. Then he chased her down the street, and right after that, she questioned him about apples in the park, which was an interview he still remembered very clearly. She had also asked him about blonde and brunettes…

Then a text showed up on the screen:

**You remember my next question, Dan?**

He nodded to himself in confusion as Vanessa was back on screen, with the question, "_Which do you prefer? Blondes or brunettes?_", but he didn't see himself answer, another text came on screen:

**I taped this a while back, and now I think it's time for you to see it, since I can't seem to find the words to tell you right to your face… **

He glanced to the side and was very surprised to find that Vanessa had left the room. He hadn't even noticed it; he'd been so absorbed in her movie and everything about them. Especially this… He was very curious to find out about, what it could be. She had made this. She had taped… something. He wasn't quite sure what it meant, but apparently she had great troubles telling him. He knew what he hoped it was, but he was almost positive that that couldn't be it. Vanessa was over him… She was _over_ him.

Vanessa came on screen again, and he focused his attention on that. She was wearing no makeup, her hair was down and she was sitting alone in her apartment in front of the camera; he recognized the room. It was very dark and he suspected that it might have been evening when she taped this. She glanced at him through the screen and took in a deep breath.

"_Hey Dan… I can't explain to you what this really is about… I guess I'm just, rehearsing… I'm not even sure if you're going to see this; I might not have the guts. But if you do see this, I'm pretty sure that I'm not there… If I am, I will probably be blushing perfusely right now._" she paused and Dan moved away from the couch and kneeled in front of the TV in wonderment, "_I ah… I think I'm in love with you, Dan._" Vanessa revealed, voice low and full of emotion, and Dan found his own heart at a brief stop, before it thankfully started pumping again, "_I think I've always been… I care about you so much, and I hated to see you with Serena; I've hated to see you get over Serena. Practically everything concerning you and Serena together. It hurt me. I've really wanted to tell you everything I've felt, Dan, but I just…_" she glanced at the floor, before she looked up again, pain in her deep, brown pools, "_I never seemed to be able to get the sentence out, even if I practised it over and over again in my head. Everything I wanted to say got stuck in my throat, when all I really wanted to get out was that… that your smile makes me so happy, and being with you is incredible. It sounds simple enough, doesn't it?_" she paused again and Dan swallowed a huge lump in his throat, "_But nothing is ever that simple, Humphrey. You're my best friend. And I'm pretty sure that I've just made a fool out of myself. I hope you can forgive me…_"

The screen went blank for a few seconds, before another text came up:

**It really isn't that simple, is it Dan? **

The film stopped and Dan felt himself fall back on his butt, staring blankly at the screen. So many things and thoughts and feelings were floating through his body and mind right now. He couldn't seem to stop at one of them and deal with it.

Vanessa liked him too? She still liked him even after he had dated Serena and she had had to watch him ogle over her for a year? It was incredible to know that she cared about him enough to still feel that way for him after so long and after such a turn-down. But she was right… it wasn't that simple. It never had been. They were best friends, and he honestly wouldn't know what to do if they ever broke up and he lost her. It wouldn't be like with Serena where he would only run into her occasionally in the city; he loved Vanessa, he had known her for so long, and he wouldn't just be able to say goodbye to her friendship and her love at the same time. It was more complex than that; it wasn't simple.

But he liked her too. She liked him, and he liked her. It should be simple, shouldn't it? It should be simple enough! They should be together if they really liked each other like that. But he needed time to think… he needed time to figure this out. He had to talk to his father, and he was pretty sure that Vanessa needed time for herself too. She had fled the room; he needed to talk to her, and she needed time to think…

How would he sort this out? What would be best to do first?

He had to see her now. To let her know that he didn't hate her, that he would never shut her out. He had to talk to her about this, ask her what was up, what she felt… Maybe she needed to talk.

He quickly stood up from his position on the floor and decided to go look in her bedroom. He turned around to go there, but stopped when he found her leaning against the doorframe to the exact room he had wanted to enter. She stood there, a nervous and yet sombre look across her face; a loose curl dangled across her left eye, which, along with the right one, was filled with questions and hope. Her mouth was stiff, and so was her body. She just stood there, glancing at him.

He swallowed loudly and stepped closer, stepped so close that he stood right in front of her, and she didn't move. She stared him right in the eye. Her mouth twitched, and he reached a hand out to touch her face. She didn't flinch away from him, she let him cup her cheek and leaned in slightly, getting lost in his touch, and suddenly he wasn't worried at all. There was nothing to question, nothing he needed to think about…

It was Vanessa.

He _loved_ her.

He took in a deep breath and watched as her eyes went soft. His fingers tingled all over and a weird sensation went through his body. He was nervous, his heart beat, he felt his throat tighten… This was Vanessa and he loved her. She loved him, too. It was actually pretty simple. Simple enough for him.

Her voice cracked when she spoke to him, "I still mean what I… _almost_ said… when I got back last year." She whispered, eyes moving from side to side as they searched first his left one, and then his right.

Dan smiled lightly, and he swore a bunch of butterflies had just settled down to mate in his stomach, "Well, that's good, Abrams." He said, and nodded firmly, as his fingers moved from her chin and down her neck, along her arm, to her fingers, and then they intertwined, "Because I _love_ you."

She got a small smile on her face and closed her eyes for a second. When she opened them again, she stepped closer to him, wrapped her arms around him, hugged him tight. He could hear her calm breath as she snuggled in his neck and he took in the scent of her hair, his nose buried in the mess of curls. He couldn't believe this. It was weird that it was actually happening now. After six weeks, he now had her in his arms. And he was sure that he wouldn't have to deal with the possibility of losing her, because it was amazingly right to have her right there.

She stepped back again and stared up at him once more. Her face was lit up in happiness and Dan knew that this was right.

"It can be that simple, Vanessa." He said, and therefore answered the question she had asked him in the film.

She smiled lightly and before he knew what had happened, her lips were pressed to his, and he could get lost in the feeling of having her there; the way her mouth worked, what her tongue felt like as it brushed through his lips. His hands moved from hers and to her back; he pulled her closer, as close as possible.

He swore that this would last; she was too good to give up on. He might have dated Serena and he might have loved her too. Vanessa might have had a thing for Nate, so it was pretty easy to say that the both of them had experienced love with the Upper East Siders. But they had each other now, and love could be that easy. No Nate, no Serena. Just the two of them.

They'd always have each other. He'd always be Dan Humphrey, and she'd always be Vanessa Abrams, and they'd always have each other and these six weeks of summer.

It was _that_ simple.

* * *

_Hey everyone. Thank you so much for reading again. I am sorry about the slight delay, but I hope you liked this last instalment. I know this wasn't the longest story, but I hope to be writing more Gossip Girl. It might only be one shots, but they'll definitely involve Vanessa._

_I hope you enjoyed everything in this chapter, as well as the entire story, and I want to thank you all for reading and commenting. It meant a lot to me to hear you opinions. _

_I hope to see one more review from you guys, just to know what you thought of the last bit. _

_**Disclaimer; **__I don't own Gossip Girl. _


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